Remember the last game at the old Wembley Stadium? Or the Euro ’96 semi-final?
Or countless other football matches involving England and Germany.
Yes it’s football I’m talking about but the bottom line remains the same.
When it’s a really big day for English sport and there’s a German in the mix, it’s inevitable that the Germans win.
And so it was today as Marcel Kittel repeated his feat of twelve months ago and claimed line honours and the yellow jersey on the opening stage into an insanely jam-packed Harrogate.
Whether Mark Cavendish would’ve won had he not crashed we’ll never know, but what we do know is that the Manxman is starting to build quite a dossier of these kind of incidents.
Stage 10, in last year’s Tour de France when He took out Tom Veelers and ironically Kittel won.
And three crashes in 2012, at the Giro, the Tour of Britain and the Tour of Qatar.
Cavendish didn’t cause all those crashes, and you could argue that as a sprinter in the finale, he’s always going to be at risk of a fall. But when I think of someone like Robbie McEwen, as prolific a winner as there’s been in the modern era, I don’t think he would’ve crashed today, or on the other occasions when Cav has come to grief.
Is it time to acknowledge that while Mark Cavendish is fast, he is not the best bike handler in the peloton?
And could you say that the extra pressure of seeing Marcel Kittel dominating more and more races, is pushing Cavendish into trying desperate things?
To both propositions, I say yes.
Cav wants success so bad, he sometimes makes mistakes. And when he does they are big ones.
The early images looked terrible for Cavendish but soon enough there were reports that Cavendish did not suffer any broken bones.
Watching Cavendish fall on his shoulder, at that speed, for him not to break anything would be a miracle.
Assuming Cavendish hasn’t broken anything then his boss Patrick Lefevere wants him to ride.
Lefevere: “If nothing’s broken, Mark will continue”.
Watching a replay of the crash, Cavendish moved to his left, away from the wheel of Peter Sagan. He was moving into a space occupied by Simon Gerrans, who had Europcar’s Bryan Coquard to his left.
It was a gap for two riders and Cav was the third man in. He used his head to try and make more room, touching Gerrans pedal in the process and bringing their day to a bumpy, scary end.
It was a silly move, and could’ve caused serious damage.
At the 2010 Tour Cavendish’s current lead out man Mark Renshaw was thrown out of the race for head-butting Julian Dean.
You could argue Cavendish’s actions were no different, and he too should be thrown out or at least relegated.
As I write the race Commissaires summary has been released, and the Manxman has not been penalised.
The medical report says he has a separated shoulder which suggests nothing is broken.
So what do you think?
Is it a fair decision or one made with two days of racing in England and a couple of million British cycling fans in mind?
Mark Cavendish may not have won today but if you ask me, on two fronts he was extremely lucky.
Stage 2 can’t come soon enough.
Da Spoon
Guest
Didn't need penalties against Brazil tonight. A master class by the Germans.
Da Spoon
Guest
True
Tim Renowden
Expert
Only if it goes to penalties.
Da Spoon
Guest
Nearly as many golds as the rest of the world put together. And the Germans always win?
Da Spoon
Guest
Let's remind ourselves of Beijing . The Germans got a respectable 1 gold. Where were you? Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Great Britain (GBR) 8 4 2 14 2 France (FRA) 2 3 1 6 3 Spain (ESP) 2 1 1 4 4 United States (USA) 1 1 3 5 5 Switzerland (SUI) 1 1 2 4 6 Germany (GER) 1 1 1 3 7 Argentina (ARG) 1 0 0 1 8 Latvia (LAT) 1 0 0 1 9 Netherlands (NED) 1 0 0 1 10 Sweden (SWE) 0 2 0 2
Da Spoon
Guest
Let's remind ourselves of the last Olympics OLYMPIC GAMES (LONDON, UK) Gold Bradley Wiggins, Men’s Road Time Trail Chris Hoy, Men’s Keirin Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny, Chris Hoy, Men’s Team Sprint Jason Kenny, Men’s Sprint, Victoria Pendleton, Women’s Keirin Laura Trott, Dani King, Joanna Rowsell, Women’s Team Pursuit Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh, Steven Burke, Men’s Team Pursuit Laura Trott, Women’s Omnium Silver Victoria Pendleton, Women’s Sprint Lizzie Armitstead, Women’s Road Race Bronze Ed Clancy, Men’s Omnium Chris Froome, Men’s Road Time Trail Not a bad performance Ilast two tours to add 25 tour wins for cav How many golds did you and the Germans get?
Da Spoon
Guest
I was just making a statement. I think that what he and renshaw did is part of sprinting and neither should have been disqualified. No one over here wanted renshaw to be disqualified, it's not our style. Cavs out now anyway so you Aussies got your wish. The sprints will be less exciting now though and victories will be slightly more hollow in cavs absence. I was on holme moss today and the atmosphere was brilliant.
Nick
Guest
Gerrans interviewed and says he's a little stiff but otherwise okay. Cavendish rang him last night to apologise.
Nick
Guest
Cavendish has just announced his withdrawal and issued an apology to Gerrans for the incident which he admits was entirely his fault. I can think of a few F1 drivers who could learn from his example.
Nick
Guest
Nope. The Isle of Man is not nor has it ever been part of either England or the UK. John's whole England v Germany riff is bizarre given that a) there was no Englishman involved and b) outside of football and hockey the two countries don't really compete against each other at the top level of sport. As for Cavendish I'm undecided, but it may be moot as it's unlikely he'll be able to compete effectively after dislocating his shoulder and tearing his ligaments even if he is able to continue.
JimmyB
Guest
Still English!
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
That's all well and good. But, as you point out in the article, Cav is a Manxman. He's not English.
commonwombat
Guest
Sprinting at top level is not for the faint-hearted and there's always going to be some bumping of bodies ..... but riding like a battering-ram trying to force yourself through a gap that isn't there IS "crossing the line" in most jurisdictions. Cav can count himself extremely lucky he wasn't fined heavily/penalised points or punted from the race; maybe being on home soil swayed the commissaires to leniency or perhaps they viewed the injuries he sustained as being sufficient "Karma". To the above poster re penalising points; they do this for rules infractions (ie feeding from cars/late drinks and instances where a large group of riders miss the time cut but aren't eliminated) so it may've been an appropriate sanction.
Jono
Guest
Renshaw shouldn't have been thrown out for that incident. It was an overreaction by the Tour and I think a poor example to use. As such Cav should be allowed to continue. As for being relegated, what is the point? He isn't going to make any green jersey points or is going for the GC so his placing due to the fall is a fair enough result for the end of the stage. If he had done what he did; knocked Gerro over, but continued to place in the top 10 then he should have been relegated because he benefited from his dubious action. You might say that while the Tour didn't punish him Karma made sure he paid a price for his foolishness.
nordster
Guest
You were :) "Disqualifying him would rob this tour of it biggest star and the 3rd most successful stage winner in tour history."
Gremlins
Roar Rookie
+1. Definitely preferential treatment. Gerrans was in a good position for a sprint and that ijit, with "home town glory" writ large in front of his eyes(yes, I know he's a Manxman, but his mother is from Harrogate) takes him out with a very dubious move. Sigh. The referees' decision is final, but not necessarily the right one.
mattocks
Guest
I'd dq him. I like watching him but he's done it before and will again. Preferential treatment, lesser rider would be gone.
Da Spoon
Guest
No one is asking for preferential ttreatment. He's not disqualified and the referees decision is final. Ride on Cav.
Pat Malone
Guest
You can't treat him differently to other riders
Sam Brown
Roar Guru
Cycling runs to no man's script.