I'm not a fan of him but you've got to admit he has achieved a hell of a reputation on portuguese soil!

I guess you must have had a laugh at his stats

Sure. And abroad. The guy once equalled Ivan Basso in a mountain TT at the Giro, as insane as that sounds. (35km TT. Up one mountain, then down the other side, then up another mountain)

Still, the fact remains, that currently he deserves a 73 sprint at most. Sure, he won 2 sprint stages in a really big race last year (the Volta), but one was about knowing the tricky finish (in my hometown), not about being a good sprinter, and the other was because he simply "shut the door" ilegally and wasn't disqualified.

He's not a good sprinter anymore.

Tour of Qatar Stage 3


The strong wind split the pack into many groups


Only 2 riders from Columbia could maintain in the first group. They were Hincapie and Cavendish


And the World Champion is leading Cav. But it's enough only a man in front of Mark?


The others are coming really fast from Cav's slipstream


And yes, one man wasn't enought for Cavendish, who is losing speed tired after he had to make a big part of the sprint only by himself


Pollack wins


While Cavendish loses even the third place.


Stage
1. Olaf Pollack Lampre 3h23'33
2. Murilo Fischer Liquigas s.t.
3. Marco Marcato Cycle Collstrop s.t.
4. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia s.t.
5. Carlos Torrent Bouygues Télécom s.t.
6. Alberto Loddo Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
7. George Hincapie Team Columbia s.t.
8. Enrico Gasparotto Silence - Lotto s.t.
9. Claudio Corioni Liquigas s.t.
10. Simon Spilak Lampre s.t.

Overall
1. Cândido Barbosa Rabobank 6h31'06
2. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia + 18
3. George Hincapie Team Columbia s.t.
4. Carlos Torrent Bouygues Télécom + 19
5. Sébastien Turgot Bouygues Télécom s.t.
6. Bram De Groot Rabobank + 20
7. Yauheni Hutarovich Française des Jeux s.t.
8. Pedro Horrillo Rabobank s.t.
9. Arnaud Gérard Française des Jeux s.t.
10. Rick Flens Rabobank s.t.

Points
1. Olaf Pollack Lampre 45
2. Murilo Fischer Liquigas 30
3. Cândido Barbosa Rabobank 27

Pollack at Lampre....And Torrent. Who the hell is he? A guy who downloads illegal torrent files?

He rode for Extremadura last year. But I think his specialisation is track

Can I see his stats, te rog ?

Google Translate, you know. Then you can learn many new words, such as the Romainian word for thank you

Tour of Qatar Stage 4


Our train wasn't really the fastest


So Cavendish is a little bit behind


Fred Rodriguez, who now rides for Serramenti PVC, and Hutarovich are leading the sprint


Hagen is coming fast and he bring with him our leader, Mark Cavendish


Cavendish tries a final acceleration


But it was too late to do anything and Fred Rodriguez gets the stage


Stage
1. Fred Rodriguez Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 2h58'42
2. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia s.t.
3. Yauheni Hutarovich Française des Jeux s.t.
4. Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Columbia s.t.
5. Alessandro Mazzi Liquigas s.t.
6. Enrico Gasparotto Silence - Lotto s.t.
7. Carlos Torrent Bouygues Télécom s.t.
8. Bernardo Riccio Tinkoff Credit Systems s.t.
9. Sébastien Turgot Bouygues Télécom s.t.
10. Olaf Pollack Lampre s.t.

Overall
1. Cândido Barbosa Rabobank 9h29'48
2. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia + 6
3. Yauheni Hutarovich Française des Jeux + 12
4. George Hincapie Team Columbia + 18
5. Carlos Torrent Bouygues Télécom + 19
6. Sébastien Turgot Bouygues Télécom s.t.
7. Bram De Groot Rabobank + 20
8. Pedro Horrillo Rabobank s.t.
9. Arnaud Gérard Française des Jeux s.t.
10. Rick Flens Rabobank s.t.

Points
1. Olaf Pollack Lampre 51
2. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia 46
3. Murilo Fischer Liquigas 34

You can do it!

6'' away from Barbosa is nothing!

If I can get a stage win then I'm sure that I won the whole Tour

haha Cavendish este slabă
Let's kill Barbosa.

Wow, you're in season two! Can you show the grand tours profiles? Or eventually find out which year they are? Thanks.

Only the new Giro was presented. I will post the profiles in a few minutes

And here they are, the 2009 Giro stage profiles

loads of flat stages, ideal for cavendish

Yep, and my best flat rider, Ingatiev will be there to help him. And 2 good sprinters will be there to help him: Van Emden and Greipel. Talking about Greipel I think that this will be his last season with Columbia.

The last mountain stage looks dangerous for Cav.. Is it that one to Isola 2000? If it is, the last one is Bonette.

yes Halvor the last climb is Isola and the previous one is Bonette

The very same I have just finished in my story

wish you better luck than I had!

thanks but I don't think that I can do with Rogers better than you did with Di Luca