Heading into the fourth stage of the 2010 Tour de France, Fabian Cancellara still holds the yellow jersey. In earlier years the time trial specialist would not be thought to challenge deep into the completion for the overall lead. Nevertheless with recent success at the Tour de Suisse, Cancellara has shown that he is able to win the ultimate prize.
Fabian Cancellara was born in a small city outside of Berne, Switzerland. His parents were Italian immigrants who emigrated from San Fele. Cancellara is said to have given up football after discovering his love for cycling with an old family bike.
From a young age Cancellara has been highly successful, especially at time trials. He won the Junior World Time Trial Championships twice in 1998 and 1999. At the young age of 19, Cancellara turned pro with then cycling superpower Team Mapei-Quick Step.
In 2001 Cancellara won his first professional victory by winning the Prologue and overall at the Tour of Rhodes. In 2003 Mapei pulled its sponsorship and Cancellara moved over to Team Fassa Bortolo.
In 2004 he enjoyed a very strong year placing fourth at the Paris-Roubaix race, won the prologue at the Tour de France and the individual time trial at the Tour de Luxembourg. In 2005 Fabian moved to Team CSC and became only the second Swiss rider to win the Paris-Roubaix.
In 2007, Cancellara would once again win the Tour de France prologue, this time in London and in 2008 he had a very strong showing at the Beijing Olympics winning a bronze in the road race, and a gold medal in the time trials. The year 2009 saw Cancellara achieve a milestone by winning his first overall tour victory at the Tour de Suisse, he was able to stick with the big riders through the mountains and win the tour on a final time trial.
With his recent victory at the Tour de Suisse, Cancellara could be a contender for this year’s yellow jersey or perhaps the overall points lead. Cancellara was expected to win the prologue, but he was not expected to hold the yellow jersey after three stages. With the abundance of crashes and his strong showing in the third stage, Cancellara certainly has changed the completion of the tour. Sitting first in the overall standing and fifth in the points with a couple of stages to go before the mountains, Cancellara could potentially put himself in a strong position when the riders descend in stage 19.
Cancellara’s chances are enhanced by the strength of his Saxo-Bank Team and by the announcement that Frank Schleck has crashed out of the tour.
The Saxo-Bank team dominated the third stage and put Cancellara and his teammate Andy Schleck in very strong positions. The elimination of Frank Schleck will also place extra weight on the shoulders of Fabian, who will have to do more to help the mountain specialist. This could mean that Cancellara could be forced to the front of the pack in the mountains, lowering his overall time. If this strategy were to play out during this year’s tour Cancellara would find himself in a similar positions to the 2009 Tour de Suisse. The Suisse tour ended with a time trial, which Cancellara won by over two minutes, this sealed the victory for the specialist.
This year’s Tour de France comes down from the mountains straight into an individual time trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac, followed by a relatively flat final stage into Paris. This could mean an overall victory for the Swiss Cyclist.
Cancellara has been a strong time trial specialist for some time, currently owning the Olympic gold medal in the discipline. However after his 2009 victory at the Tour de Suisse it is clear that Cancellara has the ability to win overall classifications, and given the circumstances at the 2010 Tour de France he may be able to surprise.
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