Fabian Cancellara: Rider Profile

Fabian Cancellara wins, World Championships 2010, men's time trial

published 20 June 2011

FABIAN CANCELLARA

Date of birth: 18/03/1981

Cancellara was a talented cross country skier as a boy but focused totally on cycling after winning the junior world time trial championships in 1998 and 1999. He was second in the 2000 under 23 world championships at just 19 and joined the Mapei development team as part of a talented generation of riders that also included Britain's Charly Wegelius, Filippo Pozzato, Bernhard Eisel, Patrick Sinkewitz, Laszlo Bodrogi and Michael Rogers.

Cancellara won his first professional time trial in 2001 at the Tour of Rhodes and has not looked back since. He joined Fassa Bortolo in 2003 and won the prologue time trial at the 2004 Tour de France in Liege and then again in London in 2007. He won the world time trial title in 2006 and 2007 and won the gold medal in the time trial at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He also won a bronze medal in the road race thanks to a late charge across to the decisive breakaway.

His victory in the 2006 Paris-Roubaix was surprising at the time but he has since shown he can win major races by combining his speed and aggression. He won Milan-San Remo with a late attack that his rivals were unable to match after comfortably handling the long race distance and the late climbs. He had used the same tactic to win stage three of 2007 Tour de France to Compiegne and used it twice in the 2008 Tour of Switzerland. He won ten races in 2008 and also played a key role in helping team mate Carlos Sastre win the Tour de France.

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