What you've got with HTC is a super versatile squad. You wont be able to win a straight duel with the big dogs on the mountains, but you can win on the smaller mountains and hills. Take risks where you can afford it - As in, don't go attacking up Mt. Ventoux with Tony Martin - but take a shot at breaking away on hills and small mountains near the finishline. Smaller hills wont punish you as much if you fail, allthough the reward of course, is not as great either. When riding big mountainstages, don't overextend yourself. Keep your strongest helpers with your captain, and let him ride his own pace. IF you try to stay with the favorites from the get-go, you'll blow up and lose a lot of time. If you use up your helpers first, and measure out your efforts so he goes as fast as he can, without overextending himself, the entire length of the mountain, you will have miniminzed your losses. If you're in GREAT shape, fitness 95+, and you've got a +5 day - you can from time to time be a little more daring - but don't count on your guys beating Contador or Schleck up the mountains in the first season =)
With Cavendish, it's a little more "iffy" - and not really easy as one might expect. On a flat stage, you'll be able to set up a "train" from 12km out. Select 3-4 of your riders to set him up. The front 2 guys need a decent "flat" skill. The ones right in front of Cavendish need to be fast on the flat, and have decent sprint and acceleration(Renshaw and Eisel are ideal) What i usually do is when you're 14km out, put all your guys who are going to be in the train on 95% and hold position. Then one after the other, delayed by a few seconds, put them on relay. This will have your riders come to the front and sit right behind whoever is working in the peleton, right after eachother. When you hit the 12km mark you start from the back of your train and have them follow eachother - Let's assume you've got Pinotti, Martin, Eisel, Renshaw and Cavendish set up. Start from the back and have Cavendish follow Renshaw, Renshaw follow Eisel, Eisel follow Martin, Martin follow Pinotti. Now set Pinotti to follow a random rider at the front of the peleton so you all stay up front, and set everyones effort to 100%.
When you're 6-7km out, take Pinotti of whoever he is following and set him to "effortcursor" If everything's done right, he should now power forward with your guys right behind him. When he starts slowing down a little, and other teams/trains start creeping up, set the next guy in the line(Martin) on effort. If timed correctly, you should be switching to the last guys ahead of your main leadout, just before the 3km mark. This way you'll be in front, going at maxspeed, with a fresh leadout and sprinter going into the sprint. If the others don't start sprinting, keep it going for as long as you can - the close you are to the line in this position, the better. If the others start sprinting early - whenever the other guys start sprinting, click sprint with Renshaw. He should now power forward with Cav on his wheel. Now, this is the critical moment - you have to look at the other sprinters try to evaluate how long to stay on Renshaws wheel. If you've got a good lead, leave it till judt under 1km to led Cavendish loose. If the others are coming fast, and there's a long way in and Renshaw isn't cutting it, you might have to let him loose earlier. Experiment with this - pause when setting up if needed - and don't be afraid to set Cav on another sprinters wheel if your guys aren't fresh for the finish. Leading this hard from 7-6km out will take it out of your riders. If they're suffering allready, they wont be able to perform. If you absolutely cannot get this model to work for you, ask here, and we'll try and tweak it a little. There is a slightly more complicated way of doing it by relaying with your train and bringing Can up the middle of it.. but the other model looks and feels better =D
On the question of how to get him over mountains, it's allmost the same as with Rogers/Martin. Make sure he's always being guarded, and don't force him up the mountain with a heartrate of 195. If the climb is early on, and there's lots of room between it and the finish, let him fall to the back, and maybe even drop out. Just make sure you have riders with him to bring him back on the descent or on the flat afterwards. Keeping helpers close, and weighing your efforts so you don't overdo it is really important.
A sidenote - Fitness is key! If you're riding a career, make sure your riders peak at the crucial stages. If your rivals have a +5 fitness advantage, you're allready in trouble. A MO75 rider in excellent form will ride up a mountain with a MO80 rider in average form - plan your season, make sure your riders have recent racedays under their belt coming into important events! Hope it all helps mate - good luck =)
