Oof for Cav. Where was his lead out, they disappeared in the last several hundred meters, Griepel's as well. Cav had to come from 4th, around Griepel who was becoming a roadblock and losing Kittel's wheel. Cav was moving faster than Kittel, clawed his way from 4th spot to a half bike length, but that was probably all he could do as at the end, he wasn't gaining any more.
As much as I wanted to see Cav win more, Kittel and Griepel are making the sprints way more competitive and that's not a bad thing. OPQS needs to get their lead out sorted, it was clearly the worst of the three top sprint teams, and the level of competition is such that Cav can't win with a much weaker lead out.
With Petacchi and maybe Renshaw next year, I hope Cav has better luck!
I'm sure he will be back with revenge on his mind next year but also agree the competition is stronger now than last year. Seems the early stages this year did not favor the sprinters as much and maybe that had something to do with his performances too.