Rider will use Vuelta a España to build form for bid to win road worlds rainbow jersey
He’s already achieved the double of Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, and now Fabian Cancellara has targeted the world road race championships as his big target for the remainder of the season.
The Swiss rider has won the worlds time trial four times in his career and was one of the big favourites for the 2009 road race, but was closely marked by other riders and eventually finished fifth.
Now, with taking the rainbow jersey for the road race as a major ambition, it appears that the 32 year old could pass up the Tour de France and instead use the Vuelta a España as a platform to reach the necessary form.
“The worlds is his big target,” RadioShack Leopard spokesman Tim Vanderjeugd confirmed to VeloNation today. “He is focussing less and less on the time trial; it’s the road race that he is aiming for. He really wants that jersey at least once during his career and he doesn’t have ten years left to get it.”
This year’s worlds is on a tough circuit in Firenze, regarded by some as being one of the most difficult in recent years. However he rode very strongly on the difficult Mendrisio course in 2009, and Vanderjeugd is clear that the parcours doesn’t rule Cancellara out.
“He is a versatile rider and if he is fresh, he can do something there,” he said.
Het Nieuwsblad has reported that Cancellara will not ride the Giro d’Italia, stating that he has been advised to take fourteen days rest in order to recover from the Classics. In addition to that, it quotes team manager Luca Guercilena as saying that the Tour de France is not on his schedule.
Vanderjeugd accepts that the rider could miss the race, but emphasises that the final decision is yet to be taken.
“Fabian has made no a secret of his belief that the route doesn’t suit him very well,” he said, speaking of the opportunities to do something in the race. “We need to see. We are looking into keeping his freshness into the worlds, getting him there in the best possible shape. The Vuelta looks like the best way to do it.
“As regards his chances of doing the Tour….it is not decided yet, we will think more about it. It seems more likely that not that he won’t do it, but it’s too soon to say.”