All of the tension has finally left the peloton as they’ve finally started the race. Haha. Or more accurately, the early tension of anticipation has been replaced by the tension to gain time/hold place/maintain position/get in the break/follow the right wheel/avoid the crashes. Fabian Cancellara did what he so often does, and won yet another Tour Prologue, and holds yet another yellow jersey.
Looking at the profile, provided he avoids crashes, etc, Fabian Cancellara will likely hold the jersey for another week.
Nice result for Radioshack after a truly dire start to the year! And for those who have Fabian Cancellara in their fantasy team, a very good start to your Tour!
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Fabian Cancellara was born on 18th March 1981, is nicknamed “Spartacus” and rides for UCI ProTeam Trek–Segafredo. He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began road cycling after falling in love with an old bike at the age of thirteen. After that, he began to take the sport more seriously and won two consecutive World Junior Time Trial Championships in 1998 and 1999. At age nineteen he turned professional and signed with the Mapei–Quick-Step team, where he rode as a stagiaire. He is known for being a good time trialist, a classics specialist, and a workhorse for his teammates that have general classification aspirations.
After winning a few stages and small races in his starting years, Cancellara earned his first major victory at the 2004 Tour de France where he won the opening prologue time trial and wore race leader yellow jersey for one day. The following season saw fewer victories, but his 2006 season saw a victory in the men’s time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, along with victory at the Paris–Roubaix. Cancellara repeated as world champion in the time trial the next year, along with winning two stages at the Tour de France.
During the 2008 calendar he won gold at the Summer Olympics in the individual time trial event and the Milan–San Remo. The next season saw Cancellara again become world time trial champion and lead both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. In 2010, he won the Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. Cancellara’s 2011 and 2012 campaigns were both short in number of victories, while the latter was hampered by injuries throughout. After a lackluster two-year period, Cancellara again won the Tour of Flanders and Paris–Roubaix double in 2013. In 2014, Cancellara repeated as winner of the Tour of Flanders.
Since turning professional in 2000, Cancellara has ridden for four professional teams. He has achieved great success in the classics; he has won Paris–Roubaix three times, the Milan–San Remo once, and the Tour of Flanders three times. Cancellara has won the opening stage of the Tour de France five times and has led the race for 29 days total, which is the most of any rider who has not won the Tour.[5] His success has not been limited to just time trials and classics, as he has won general classification of the Tirreno–Adriatico, Tour de Suisse, and the Tour of Oman. In 2008, he won gold in the individual time trial and silver in the men’s road race at the Summer Olympics. In addition, Cancellara has been the time trial world champion four times in his career.
