Fabian Cancellara admits that “People are scared” ofthe route of the Tour of Flanders 2012
The 2012 edition of the Tour of Flanders is considered to be one of the most difficult versions of the race.
Fabian Cancellara of Team RadioShack-Nissan has admitted that a number of his teammates are worried about the new route of the Belgian race.
The 96th edition of the race the race is scheduled on April 1st and the cyclists will cover a gruelling distance of 158.1 kilometres between Brugge and Oudenaarde.
Cancellara told Cyclingnews, "This year at Flanders, because of the changes to the parcours, it’s going to be a different and very difficult race compared to previous years".
The Swiss succeeded during the 2010 edition of the race and also claimed the E3 Harelbeke and the Paris-Roubaix victory in the 2010 season.
He continued his splendid form in the previous season but was denied the victory by Nick Nuyens of Belgium.
French Cyclist Sylvain Chavanel grabbed the second position, while Fabian finished third during the race.
The 30-year-old rode for Team Leopard Trek in 2011, and helped the side with quite a few victories in the last season.
He bagged stages at the Tour de Suisse, Tour de Luxembourg, Tirreno-Adriatico, Vuelta a Espana and finished third during the UCI World Championships, Time Trials category.
Cancellara is more concerned about the hills and parcours added in this year’s race. He believes that the climb of Paterberg will be the toughest part and is harder than Bosberg and Muur.
The race features as many as 17 ascends, Nokereberg, Taaienberg, Eikenberg, Molenberg, Rekelberg, Berendries, Valkenberg, Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries, Nieuwe Kruisberg, Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, Hoogberg-Hotond, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg.
Fabian briefed, “People are scared, there’s a lot of ‘why?’ also. Why have they changed the history of this race?”
“I mean, California is growing huge and so is the Tour Down Under, China is getting bigger. And on the other side, some of the big Italian races that I knew when I was younger are now being overshadowed,” he completed.
The event will be participated by 24 teams, comprising 18 UCI Pro Tour teams and 6 professional continental teams.
Wild card entries for this year’s race are Team Accent.jobs-Willems Veranda’s, Team Farnese Vini-Selle Italia, Team Landbouwkrediet-Euphony, Team Project 1t4i, Team Top sport Vlaanderen-Mercator and Team Europcar.
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