Pure sprinter vs. classics specialist

[john.francis]

I realise that this is a question about pro riders, and acknowledge that this is potentially in the wrong forum, I apologise if that is the case.
Anyway, the question:
Listening to the commentators during the tour at the moment, they keep talking about Cavendish being a "pure sprinter" and saying that he's basically rooted on any incline, whereas Hushovd is slightly less of a "pure" sprinter, but can hold his own in the mountains AND in the sprints.

I was fine with that, until I happened upon their physical measurements. Thor is 183cm tall and 81kg, whereas Cavendish is a meager 175cm and 69kg, significantly smaller than Thor. Given the rule of thumb (which I am aware does have it's exceptions) shouldn't Cavendish be at least an ok climber? Is it just a result of laziness that he isn't a better climber?

I should note that this is simply my observations from what the commentators have said, so please Cav-fans don't jump on me. But anyone have any ideas as to what's the deal here?

 

[frenchyge]

Probably Thor has better power over longer durations, which enables him to hang with the group long enough to get over the top. Could also be laziness (more accurately, HTC saving his/team energy for the finishes in which he's more likely to feature).

 

[tonyzackery]

Thor, IMO, is not really a "pure sprinter". He's more of a rouleur - a big, powerful rider that can handle hills and can unleash significant power to win a sprint. Think of a Haussler, Boasson Hagen, and there's quite a few others with this capacity. Thor also has excellent time trial skills.

Cavendish, OTOH, comes off the track and has exceedingly high leg speed. It's this leg speed that separates Cav from the other so-called "sprinters", with the exception of McEwen.

I'm certain these two riders train VERY differently in that Thor probably does ALOT more climbing than Cav, and is therefore better in the hills. Cav, if he concentrated on them, could be a decent climber. However, I'm also very certain he has no interest in losing some of his outstanding leg speed by doing extra hill training in order to maintain contact with the peloton when the road tilts up. Thor is a kind of jack-of-all-trades sprinter whereas Cav is a pure sprinter.

 

[greysocks]

In July 2010 i bought a "van nicholas" titanium bike from a specialist supplier in Norfolk and it was built to my spec. The bike is great but i discovered to my horror on a long ride that the chain was too short, and when i selected big ring, big sprocket the chain bound up.
This forced the rear mech into the wheel and resulted in
bent rear mech ,
buckled wheel
bent spoke
bend axle
possibly bent freewheel
 
as you can imagine i wasnt best please. Anyway i rang the shop and got nowhere " we built 2 bikes a day and never make a mistake" etc and said they would fix it and charge me for it.
 
I emailed them since with photo evidence , but recieved no reply.
 
so my advice is check out the shop, buy local if possible, and it you're in norfolk avoid bike shops that involve rotund feathered
creatures!
 
The image shows the state of the chain when the chain is half way changing from second to first on the rear cassette and the pedals will not turn any further.When you're pedalling however it fully engages first, resulting in the damage described.