It didn't look like a great plan but it worked. Early commitment to the chase, commitment to position and better timing opened up the gap. Once he got a sniff he didn't back off, unlike Stage 4's "switch-off". He just went.
Throwing Elbows Part Of The Job For Renshaw | Cyclingnews.com
Throwing Elbows Part Of The Job For Renshaw | Cyclingnews.com
"And if Thor thinks I’m going to give him the wheel with 500m to go, come on - that’s my job [to hold the wheel in front]. Thor knows that - I’ve been on a team with him.PezCycling News - What's Cool In Pro Cycling
"There’ll be no hard feelings later," added Renshaw. "We’re good mates, we train together every second day in Monaco. He might be a bit angry now, but that’s sport."
Renshaw admitted that the team had had to compromise its efforts in the finale, after committing men to the earlier pursuit of the break. "A few teams didn’t want to help chase, so we had to use Tony Martin early, which was a pity," he said.
"We shouldn’t have had to commit Tony Martin with 6k to go, or Michael Rogers, but as I said yesterday, we’re a few guys short. We had to compromise, to use different tactics. It shows how bad we wanted this win."
I don’t know the specifics of how Mark Cavendish deals with pressure, but on the way to becoming a successful champion, all top athletes develop a method that works best for them. Some simply don’t read the papers and stay away from the internet. Others decided how much of that information they want to see – and from what sources – and then tune out the rest. There are others who read everything and talk to everyone because they feed off it and channel it into incredible performances. How important is it to develop an ironclad method for dealing with pressure? There may be nothing that’s more important. I would say that the ability to cope with or thrive under the pressure that comes with success is one of the limiting factors that determines whether an athlete who is physiologically capable of being a champion, actually becomes one.PezCycling News - What's Cool In Pro Cycling
Renshaw took Cavendish through to the front and set the sprint for his man. All happy in the HTC camp today, there won’t be any tantrums at the team bus tonight, but a tearful Cavendish on the podium.
