The winner of the Flanders/Roubaix double in 2010 hoping for a second double in Geelong
Fabian Cancellara will be giving it another go at double duty for the upcoming World Championships in Melbourne. After taking the prestigious double at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix this spring, Cancellara has his eyes set on an even more impressive double in October: the Worlds road race and time trial.
Cancellara will enter the time trial as the overwhelming favorite for his fourth career World Championship in the race against the clock. In the road race, he'll certainly be one of the favorites, and with the course getting varied reviews as to its possibilities, Cancellara could see his stocks on the rise.
Even with a bunch sprint finish, Cancellara's prospects are not terrible. When he's on form, the Flanders/Roubaix double winner has been known to disrupt a field sprint or dupe a better sprinter with a long jump - remember that Stage 3 win at the 2007 Tour de France, when Cancellara left the bunch sprint in his wake while wearing the Maillot Jaune? This year presented another great example of Cancellara's undeniable power when he left Boonen gasping in the final kilometer of the E3 Prijs and never even let there be a question about his chances over the quicker finishing Tom Boonen.
Cancellara has gradually improved to a point where he has become a threat in the difficult routes of both the World Championships and the Olympics. The 2008 Olympics were the first time that Cancellara showed himself as a rider capable of more than just the cobbled classics and time trials. His podium finish in the road race on a course described by many as a climber's course opened the floodgates, while his performance in last year's World Championship road race in Mendrisio once again confirmed it. If anything, a stunningly powerful Cancellara appeared to be guilty of showing his hand a little too early.
With the Vuelta as perfect preparation for the two-time Paris-Roubaix winner, the World Championship time trial is almost an understood win at this point, but with Tony Martin showing consistent improvement, he might be pressed a bit more than in previous years. The road race, however, will be the big unknown, and the much sought after and suffered for victory for the native of Bern. The winner of seven races in 2010 has shown that he has made yet another stride forward this year, can he cap off what has already been an immense campaign with one of the few races that has eluded him so far?
In the road race, Cancellara will receive a nice complement of five teammates: Michael Albasini (HTC-Columbia), Martin Elmiger (AG2R), Steve Morabito (BMC), Gregory Rast (RadioShack), and Oliver Zaugg (Liquigas).