Mark Cavendish and Astana Qazaqstan Team: a combination that became official a few days ago and which embraces Wilier also significantly. For the British champion there is a SLR shooting “almost” ready to race.
We asked his mechanic, Gabriele Tosello, to discuss the rider's technical choices and to go into the details of Cav's bike.
How did he approach you mechanics?
definitely very quiet and he spent a lot of time with us to understand the particularities of the materials available. You indulge and listen to an athlete like that..
Will there be Filante for Cavendish?
Yes, there will be a Wilier Filante SLR, even if the official announcement of the hiring of Cavendish, to the rider a Zero SLR was also providedFor us it was an obligatory choice, but also a strategic one, because it was essential that it started to get my leg on a Wilier bikeDuring the second Spanish retreat, the one that began after the holidays, he was given a standard Filante SLR, in the small size and with the integrated handlebar that we have in Astana, which is what it is Wilier full carbon: 130 mm long and 40 mm wide.
Did you make any special requests?
Immediately the sprinter command for the electronic transmission, the one that is inserted behind the shifter and in the handlebar bendI was also struck by one of his requests, which I could define as counter-trend, namely a handlebar with the greatest width, compared to the current one, by 42 centimetres. Today riders want increasingly narrower bars. And then his position on the bike, very racing and very forward-loaded.
Can you describe it to us?
It's almost a triathlete settingAfter some testing, the last requested setting has a very forward saddle and with the body fully loaded on the bottom bracket. We are there I wanted to know, first of all, to regulate myself and to understand what he might ask me in the future.. Beyond the rider's habits and a position he has been using for several seasons, the athlete has short legs and an elongated torso. Obviously this is a sample and the results speak for themselves, so, A Cavendish must be satisfied in his choices and requests.
His requests for super-stiff frames were well known. Can you tell us something about them?
Directly he did not make any such requestsThis does not exclude the fact that collaborate closely with Wilier for other solutions which I am not aware of at this time.
The other components of the bike?
Its overall features reflect those of the other riders on the team. The Corima wheels of different heights, a product that forces us to use the tubular. We have Victory with widths of 26 millimetersThe pressures normally used are between 7 and 8 atmospheres. For racing bikes we have complete Shimano Dura Ace drivetrains, with the double 54-40 front platform. For this season we will have the following SLF Motion rear balancer.
He's been using tubeless tires for several seasons. Did he notice this detail?
We talked about it in depth, Even on a personal level I was curious to hear the opinion of a rider of this caliberHe found tubeless particularly good, but he did not express requests that went beyond the team's standard equipment.
