erader

man that guy's got a thankless job trying to best the manx missle in a field sprint. because of all the media hype and a lack of sprinters either unwilling or incapable of taking on cavendish, expectations are huge for farrar who doesn't whine, go negative or point blame when he again comes up second best.

i've got to respect a guy who consistently suits up, shows up and gives it his very best against such an irresistable force, and remains upbeat. i'm pulling for tyler to win a sprint against cavendish .

ed rader

gnome

Tyler seems like a nice kid. If Dean and Pate can get a clear run on a good day they may get Tyler up far enough to beat the Columbia train. They are getting closer.

Paco97

Yeah todays stage was very excting! I like Cav, but I was hoping that Tyler would pull and upset and he was oh so close.

Why doesn't a team take the lead in the last 2 Kms and pull ahead of the columbia train and try and get Cav out of rhythm or forcing him to sprint early? It seems to me these attacks are coming too late and nobody can beat cav in a short sprint, so why don't they force him to a longer sprint or to chase a last minute breakaway?

gnome

Probably because the other teams lead out men/train can't maintain their sprint for over 2km either.

gnome

Here's how to beat Cav.

gear

I think Farrar could occasionally beat Cavendish but Farrar's team can't set him up like Cavendish's can so it will remain conjecture.

lukasz

He came damn close yesterday. The Columbia train is amazing though. Lots of disruption yesterday and they still led out Cavendish perfectly. Farrar almost had Cavendish at the line despite the great lead out.

justinb

It has already happened, in the recent past, without a Garmin leadout.

I still think Garmin's best chance would be the very long leadout, given their TT prowess, but Columbia is no slouch at that either, and as others have pointed out, are currently the superlative leadout team with the best sprinter on the end of that train.

lhbernhardt

Recall that two years ago, when Cav rode his first TdF, he won no stages. He only came into his own in last year's Tour, and he is confirming his talents this year.

Now there's a new kid on the block in his first Tour, Tyler Farrar. If he continues to improve and gains more confidence by winning the sprints where Cav is not there, I think we can look forward to a real knock-down drag-out fight for the Green Jersey in the 2010 Tour! That would be something to look forward to.

My only reservation about Tyler is that he seems to be even more of a pure road sprinter than Cav. Tyler appears to get dropped more easily on the climbs. Otherwise, he's got a wonderful attitude and plenty of potential.

L.

justinb

You make an excellent point about Tyler's first tour. The one thing that may work against him is the makeup of his team. Though Dean, Maaskant, Millar and Pate have been doing a great job getting Tyler into position to contest, Garmin's efforts will always be split between going for the stage win and protecting their GC hopeful. I doubt that changes next year.

By contrast, Columbia seems to have one goal this year, to put Cavendish in a great spot with 200m to go. Martin may be high on the GC currently, but I don't think they're going to great lengths to protect that spot.

BluesDawg

Tyler may not climb fast, but he can climb. Here he is near the top of Brasstown Bald.

bigun83

+1,000 I think the future holds great things for him. Cavendish better watch out.