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DTFP3 t1_j63y2ql wrote

As a massive fan of Mark Cavendish, I cannot tell you how much I irrationally hated this man when I was younger, which is a testament to how fantastic of a racer he is. Dominant, exciting, consistent, it’ll be a big loss to the cycling world when he retires

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modularmaniac420 t1_j64znaz wrote

Same, and to think when Sagan emerged in 2010, he was right in Cav’s wheelhouse, as a pure sprinter who could make it over a lumpy course. But by 2012 there was no real competition anymore: Sagan could make it over any climb save the high mountains and would usually make it on to the podium. It’s hard to overstate how versatile the man was. They had to change the green jersey rules at the Tour in order to keep it competitive. He won three consecutive World Championships on totally different terrains. I’d rate him the best overall Classics rider of the 2010s. One of the all time greats, just a step below Merckx IMO.

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Hill_Reps_For_Jesus t1_j65amiv wrote

Cav is my favourite rider of all time - but I wouldn’t compare him to Sagan when it comes to getting over climbs. Cav needs 3 guys to get him over a mountain, Sagan attacks off the front on the same climb.

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tec_tec_tec t1_j65jr5c wrote

My absolute favorite bit of cycling writing was along these lines:

>Sprinter Mark Cavendish showed great form in the challenging stage today. For those of you who continually question his ability in the mountains, he had so much energy that he was even helping repair the team car's wing mirror at various times!

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