Previous murmurings that Fabian Cancellara might forego the Tour de France were followed by confirmation of that today, with the former stage winner and yellow jersey wearer saying he would not take part.
The Tour was a successful one last year for the Swiss rider, who won the prologue and wore the Maillot Jaune for six days. However the absence of a prologue this year plus his intention to target the world road race championships in Italy in September have led to him deciding to follow a different programme.
“The Tour has given me beautiful things, but now I set other goals,” the 32 year old said, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
In order to be in peak form for the worlds, he has mapped out a sequence of races that he believes will help him prepare. “After the Tour de Suisse, I won’t do the Tour. I’ll do the Tours of Austria, Poland and Spain in order to prepare for the world championships.”
Cancellara 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. Although this year’s route is a very hilly one, his past victories in races such as the Tour de Suisse and the Tour of Flanders show that a fully-fit Cancellara can be very strong on lumpy courses, although some are tipping the Florence parcours as being more tailored for climbers.
“Fabian has made no a secret of his belief that the [Tour] route doesn’t suit him very well,” RadioShack Leopard team spokesman Tim Vanderjeugd told VeloNation earlier this year. “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.”
While that course of action wasn’t certain at the time, Cancellara has concluded that it is the way to go. According to Vanderjeugd, he knows that time is running out to take gold.
“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.”
Cancellara will line out alongside Andy Schleck and others in the Tour de Suisse. Absent from the squad is Chris Horner, who told VeloNation that recent surgery means he will miss the Swiss event and also the Tour de France.
Like Cancellara, he too will ride the Vuelta and the worlds.