Fabian Cancellara is more than ready to break the hour record after his performances in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, according Francesco Moser.
"He can do it with only one leg, even in the next week," Moser told Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Cancellara only needs to get on the track."
In addition to his recent Monument wins, Cancellara claimed the time trial world title three times and won four time trials at the Tour de France.
Brit Chris Boardman was the first to beat Eddy Merckx's 1972 hour record after the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) standardised the equipment rules. He rode 49.441 kilometres in Manchester on October 27, 2000. Czech Ondrej Sosenka set the current hour record of 49.7 kilometres in Moscow, on July 19, 2005.
"I can't think about it now," Cancellara said Friday before Paris-Roubaix. However, in November he told Bicisport magazine, "I have the hour record on my mind. Sooner or later I will make it happen."
After Flanders, Cancellara also talked about becoming the first modern star to win all five Monuments, joining an exclusive group that includes only Roger De Vlaeminck, Rik Van Looy and Merckx. He currently has Milan-San Remo, Flanders and Roubaix, but still needs to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy.
"They are possible," said Cancellara on Friday, "but my preparations have to be different."
"It's difficult," continued Moser. "He would have to change something in his preparations because Liège has more ramps and Lombardy has more climbs. A lot depends on his rivals. Cancellara could have an advantage because now there are not specialists for Liège, like [Moreno] Argentin, or for Lombardy, like [Paolo] Bettini.
"A lot also depends on the courses. If Lombardy would arrive in Milan, instead of Como, he would have more time to recover."
Moser set an hour record of 51.151km on a special bike before the UCI standardised the rules and established Merckx's 1972 mark to beat. He also won San Remo, Roubaix three times and Lombardy twice.
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