Four-time World Time Trial Champion looking to target the two Monuments he hasn't won in 2011
While it still hasn't been officially announced yet, it looks more and more like a 100% certainty that Fabian Cancellara will be racing with the Luxembourg project in 2011. Not only that, it looks like the four-time World Time Trial Champion is not just bouncing around the idea of a different spring schedule - it looks to be a major possibility.
Diario Vasco reports that Cancellara is set to pursue three main objectives in 2011: Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the World Road Championships, and the Giro di Lombardia.
"I think that I can win Liege-Bastogne-Liege, but to do so would take very specific preparation. I would have to forget about Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders and race the Tour of the Basque Country to achieve my best form," said the Olympic Champion in a conversation with Diario Vasco. The Basque paper was of course pleased to announce the possibility of the rider that has never paid a second glance to arguably the most difficult one week stage race of the season, the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.
Certainly, the possibility of glory in the Ardennes hills as well as the mountains above Como, Italy seems very much within grasp, and considering just how powerfully Cancellara has ridden over hilly courses in the past, namely in Beijing and Mendrisio, who would dare bet against Cancellara taking his fourth and fifth Monuments in 2011 to go with his first three from Milan-Sanremo, the Ronde van Vlaanderen, and Paris-Roubaix. For a rider like Cancellara, however, one of the big questions in races such as these will be his weight, and it's something he knows will have to be lower than his typical April weight if he will have a chance in first the Ardennes, then in Denmark, and finally in Lombardia.
"For the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain, the preparation is different. At the Mendrisio Worlds, where I finished fifth, I weighed 79 kilograms, while at the Classics this year, during the month of April, I was 82 kilograms. If you want to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April, then I should be 79 kilograms."
A light and entirely focused Cancellara would be a formidable presence in the Ardennes in April, and couple that with both Frank and Andy Schleck, and the possibilities seem endless. Of course, it could also be a bit of a shocker to Cancellara, as he has normally been more or less the sole leader when the biggest races rolled around. The issue of being part of a three-headed threat doesn't appear like it will be much of a problem though, because like a lot of the other riders that have joined the Luxembourg project, Cancellara appears to have signed not only on sporting and financial grounds, but because of the close friendships developed over the last years racing for Bjarne Riis's squad.
"With the arrival of Alberto Contador, many things were going to change. I cannot lose a year at the top, losing my balance. I learned a lot from Riis, but I need a good environment at all levels. In cycling, there are money and business deals, but those do not win bike races on their own. At Saxo Bank, we had a great time, and I want to continue with that same group of people."
Again, there has been no announcement from Team Schleck or Cancellara at this point, so his words there appear to be the closest thing so far to confirmation. Cancellara's presence in the team will not have come cheaply though. Earlier this week, Het Nieuwsblad wrote a piece indicating that the Red Hammer's signature likely came at a cost of 1.83 million euros, or, one and a half times Cancellara's salary with Bjarne Riis's Saxo Bank team.
It remains to be seen whether this new plan of attack will be accepted by his new team. Glory on the cobbles would be a major story for not only the team, but its sponsors as well, namely Trek, who would dearly love to finally get a piece of cobbled victory next season. However, one would assume that Cancellara is at a point and status in his career to where he can more or less make the calls as to what direction he plans to take, especially considering the high likelihood of success if the native of Bern focuses 100% on his newest objectives.