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Cancellara says he wants to hold the jersey until the team time trial

by Andrew Hood

• July 04, 2009
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By Andrew Hood

2009 TdF, stage 1: Cancellara powers to the finish. He caught and passed Denis Menchov (just visible) in the final kilometer.

Photo: AFP-Pascal Pavani

Fabian Cancellara knew if he could stay close to the climbers on the first half of the course in Saturday’s individual time trial to open the 2009 Tour de France, the yellow jersey was his.

Cancellara’s plan worked like a charm, staying within six seconds of 2007 Tour champion Alberto Contador (Astana) at the Cat. 4 Cote de Beausoleil with 8km to go before turning on the afterburners in the final half to claim the double prize of stage win and yellow jersey by 18 seconds.

“I took it easy on the climb because I didn’t want to have problems with lactic acid building up in my legs,” Cancellara said. “I was the favorite for the race and I knew that if things went the way I expected them to, no one could beat me.”

Third term

The victory puts the freshly crowned Tour de Suisse champion into the maillot jaune for the third time of his career.

Cancellara first took yellow with a surprise victory in the 2004 Tour at Liège. By 2007, he was king of the prologues and lived up to expectations to win in front of huge crowds in London.

This year, however, hasn’t gone as the big Swiss time machine would have liked.

Cancellara now admits the distractions, commitments and new pressures that came with being the Olympic time trial gold medalist knocked him off balance.

He won the opening prologue at the Tour of California in February, but fell ill. Falling behind in his training, Cancellara was sidelined during the spring classics, not being able to defend his title at Milan-San Remo.

He rode the opening half of the Giro d’Italia in May for fitness and abandoned before the high-profile Cinque Terre time trial without making much of an impression.

Things turned around for him at his native Swiss tour, winning both time trials and claiming the overall, the most important stage race victory of his career.

“I had a few problems in April, things weren’t going my way, but it makes me even prouder to know that I am strong enough to come back,” Cancellara said. “To be back in yellow is a big achievement for me and I am very proud for me and my team.”

How long can he hold it?

Cancellara is now poised to enjoy a good run in yellow.

His Saxo Bank team – starting the Tour without defending champion Carlos Sastre, now with Cervélo TestTeam – will want to maximize the exposure of the yellow jersey for new team sponsors.

Saxo Bank will also find allies from sprint teams such as Columbia-Highroad and Milram, who will want to set up the likes of Mark Cavendish and Gerard Ciolek in Sunday’s and Monday’s stages.

Then there’s the team time trial on Tuesday, where Saxo Bank could defend Cancellara’s jersey, perhaps allowing him to ride into the Pyrénées in yellow.