Cancellara storms to yet another Tour de Suisse prologue win
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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Cancellara storms to yet another Tour de Suisse prologue win

by Bjorn Haake at 12:55 PM EST   comments
Categories: Pro Cycling, Race Reports and Results, Tour de Suisse
 
Chronoman beats Tejay van Garderen on tough Lugano course

fabian cancellaraFabian Cancellara proved once again that he is the fastest prologue rider in the peloton. The Swiss rider took the Tour de Suisse's opening day 7.3km ride in 9'41, a comfortable nine seconds clear off second-placed Tejay van Garderen. Peter Sagan ended the tough day in third place, eight seconds behind Van Garderen.

The winner was quite happy with his fifth Tour de Suisse prologue victory, despite being a bit nervous. Everybody expected him to take first in Lugano. "It was great to win here in Tessin," he said on Swiss television after the race. "The spectators were great along the course." It became audibly louder everywhere Cancellara rode past. He can relax for the remainder of the tour. "The goal is reached. I finished my first assignment perfectly."

The course was hard and the highest point at 391 meters came halfway through the course. Cancellara's assessment was quite simple. "It is tough for everyone," he said.
He showed that even a difficult climb in a short prologue cannot stop him.

Defending champion Fränk Schleck started last, being one of the few riders who had rain throughout his ride. His brother Andy suffered from a problem with his gearing system, having to get off the bike on the climb.

Warm and sunny weather greeted the riders in the prologue in Lugano. Alexander Gottfried (Team NetApp) was the first rider off, clocking in at 11:01. Assan Bazayev put in a good ride (10'17), but it was Chris Froome who almost came in under ten minutes (10'05). Swedish rider Gustav Erik Larsson managed to do that, with a 9'58.

Andreas Klöden then had the best intermediate time (5'11), but lost a little bit in the second half of the course. He ended one second behind Larsson. Tejay van Garderen conserved his energy better. He was four seconds slower than Klöden in the intermediate timing, but nine seconds faster at the finish. His 9'50 was the first place for now, netting him an eventual second place.

Tom Danielson clocked a 10'01, a very good time for the American. Andy Schleck was less lucky, having problems with his gears. He had to step off on the climb and lost probably half a minute. That puts his 10'59 in perspective.

Cancellara started shortly after six pm local time and it was almost disastrous. Out of the saddle to get his speed up, his gear slipped. But he caught himself well and continued his effort under the enormous applause from the local fans.

Cancellara's intermediate time was two seconds slower than the time of Klöden. The descent was not too technical, but the roads were quite narrow. There was also one tight hairpin turn to require the rider's concentration. Cancellara did well on that second part, blasting away Van Garderen's time. He almost caught his one-minute man, Michael Albasini, on the short route.

Peter Sagan was the fourth rider under ten minutes, with a 9'58. He placed ahead of Larsson in third place.

It had started to rain, affecting the performances of the last few riders. Damiano Cunego (10'09), Levi Leipheimer (10'03) and Peter Velits (10'02) produced good prologue results to keep any overall chances alive.

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Tour de Suisse, Switzerland (WorldTour) Stage 1 Results: Lugano, 7.3km:

  Click on the arrowsat the top of the column to sort the race results.
Country Result Name Team Time
sui SUI 1 Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) 00:09:41
usa USA 2 Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) 00:00:09
svk SVK 3 Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:00:17
swe SWE 4 Gustav Erik Larsson (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
ger GER 5 Andréas Klöden (RadioShack) 00:00:18
usa USA 6 Thomas Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:00:20
svk SVK 7 Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) 00:00:21
ned NED 8 Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) 00:00:22
usa USA 9 Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack) s.t.
ger GER 10 Linus Gerdemann (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
gbr GBR 11 Christopher Froome (Team Sky) 00:00:24
ita ITA 12 Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) s.t.
bel BEL 13 Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) 00:00:26
ita ITA 14 Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank-Sungard) 00:00:27
esp ESP 15 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
ned NED 16 Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:00:28
ita ITA 17 Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) s.t.
col COL 18 Juan Mauricio Soler (Movistar) s.t.
bel BEL 19 Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) 00:00:29
den DEN 20 Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
sui SUI 21 Martin Elmiger (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
esp ESP 22 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Movistar) 00:00:30
blr BLR 23 Branislau Samoilau (Movistar) s.t.
sui SUI 24 Mathias Frank (BMC Racing) 00:00:31
nor NOR 25 Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
pol POL 26 Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:00:32
ita ITA 27 Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
fin FIN 28 Jussi Veikkanen (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
ita ITA 29 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:00:33
ned NED 30 Pieter Weening (Rabobank) s.t.
aus AUS 31 Stuart O' Grady (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
usa USA 32 George Hincapie (BMC Racing) 00:00:34
usa USA 33 Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
aus AUS 34 Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:00:35
bel BEL 35 Francis De Greef (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
esp ESP 36 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Movistar) s.t.
svk SVK 37 Martin Velits (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
aus AUS 38 Luke Roberts (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
aus AUS 39 Simon Clarke (Astana) 00:00:36
pol POL 40 Jaroslaw Marycz (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
rsa RSA 41 Robert Hunter (RadioShack) s.t.
ita ITA 42 Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
kaz KAZ 43 Assan Bazayev (Astana) s.t.
ger GER 44 Jens Voigt (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
sui SUI 45 Johann Tschopp (BMC Racing) s.t.
por POR 46 Nelson Oliveira (RadioShack) s.t.
ned NED 47 Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) 00:00:37
ita ITA 48 Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
den DEN 49 Mads Christensen (Saxo Bank-Sungard) 00:00:38
irl IRL 50 Philip Deignan (RadioShack) s.t.
aus AUS 51 Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
bel BEL 52 Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
fra FRA 53 Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) s.t.
usa USA 54 Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:00:39
usa USA 55 Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) s.t.
kaz KAZ 56 Alexandr Dyachenko (Astana) s.t.
rus RUS 57 Artem Ovechkin (Katusha) s.t.
ned NED 58 Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) s.t.
cze CZE 59 Jan Barta (Team Netapp) 00:00:40
nzl NZL 60 Gregory Henderson (Team Sky) 00:00:41
ita ITA 61 Danilo Di Luca (Katusha) s.t.
lux LUX 62 Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
ita ITA 63 Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing) 00:00:42
bel BEL 64 Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
bel BEL 65 Maarten Wynants (Rabobank) 00:00:43
bel BEL 66 Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) 00:00:44
nor NOR 67 Kurt-asle Arvesen (Team Sky) s.t.
rus RUS 68 Pavel Brutt (Katusha) s.t.
est EST 69 Tanel Kangert (Astana) 00:00:45
rsa RSA 70 Daryl Impey (Team Netapp) s.t.
esp ESP 71 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Katusha) 00:00:46
ned NED 72 Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank) s.t.
esp ESP 73 Jorge Azanza Soto (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
ita ITA 74 Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
bel BEL 75 Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank-Sungard) 00:00:48
bel BEL 76 Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
can CAN 77 Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
sui SUI 78 Andreas Dietziker (Team Netapp) 00:00:49
cze CZE 79 Leopold Konig (Team Netapp) s.t.
cze CZE 80 Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step) s.t.
bel BEL 81 Kristof Vandewalle (Quick Step) 00:00:50
fra FRA 82 Cyril Dessel (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
usa USA 83 Jeff Louder (BMC Racing) s.t.
ger GER 84 Danilo Hondo (Lampre-ISD) s.t.
gbr GBR 85 Ian Stannard (Team Sky) s.t.
ger GER 86 Marcel Sieberg (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) 00:00:51
bel BEL 87 Tom Boonen (Quick Step) s.t.
fra FRA 88 Laszlo Bodrogi (Team Type 1) s.t.
ita ITA 89 Dario Cioni (Team Sky) s.t.
aus AUS 90 Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) 00:00:52
sui SUI 91 Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
sui SUI 92 Rubens Bertogliati (Team Type 1) s.t.
ita ITA 93 Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
ita ITA 94 Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:00:53
rus RUS 95 Alexander Efimkin (Team Type 1) s.t.
esp ESP 96 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar) s.t.
ger GER 97 Andre Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
fra FRA 98 Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
sui SUI 99 Gregory Rast (RadioShack) s.t.
bel BEL 100 Olivier Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
ger GER 101 Gerald Ciolek (Quick Step) 00:00:54
ita ITA 102 Daniele Righi (Lampre-ISD) s.t.
mda MDA 103 Alexandr Pliuschin (Katusha) s.t.
esp ESP 104 Koldo Fernandez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
esp ESP 105 Daniel Sesma (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
sui SUI 106 David Loosli (Lampre-ISD) s.t.
ger GER 107 Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:00:56
ita ITA 108 Cesare Benedetti (Team Netapp) s.t.
ger GER 109 Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing) 00:00:57
den DEN 110 Matti Breschel (Rabobank) s.t.
uzb UZB 111 Sergey Lagutin (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
gbr GBR 112 Ben Swift (Team Sky) s.t.
ita ITA 113 Simone Ponzi (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
ita ITA 114 Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) 00:00:58
nor NOR 115 Gabriel Rasch (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
kaz KAZ 116 Dmitriy Muravyev (RadioShack) s.t.
esp ESP 117 Alan Lezaun Perez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:00:59
aus AUS 118 Baden Cooke (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
lux LUX 119 Ben Gastauer (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
ita ITA 120 Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) s.t.
aut AUT 121 Daniel Schorn (Team Netapp) 00:01:00
ukr UKR 122 Oleksandr Kvachuk (Lampre-ISD) s.t.
ita ITA 123 Luca Paolini (Katusha) 00:01:01
pol POL 124 Bartosz Huzarski (Team Netapp) 00:01:02
kaz KAZ 125 Sergey Renev (Astana) s.t.
bel BEL 126 Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:01:03
esp ESP 127 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Movistar) s.t.
esp ESP 128 Oscar Gomez Freire (Rabobank) 00:01:04
slo SLO 129 Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
esp ESP 130 Benjamin Gonzalez Noval (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
aus AUS 131 Christopher Sutton (Team Sky) 00:01:05
ita ITA 132 Cristiano Salerno (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:01:07
esp ESP 133 Angel Ruiz Madrazo (Movistar) 00:01:08
blr BLR 134 Aleksandr Kuschynski (Katusha) s.t.
esp ESP 135 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) 00:01:09
ger GER 136 Bert Grabsch (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
aut AUT 137 Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
aus AUS 138 Matthew Goss (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
ita ITA 139 Matteo Bono (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:10
esp ESP 140 Javier Mejias Leal (Team Type 1) s.t.
esp ESP 141 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
aus AUS 142 Robbie Mcewen (RadioShack) 00:01:12
bel BEL 143 Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) s.t.
gbr GBR 144 Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 00:01:13
usa USA 145 Scott Stewart (Team Type 1) s.t.
esp ESP 146 Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
lux LUX 147 Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) 00:01:18
aus AUS 148 Allan Davis (Astana) s.t.
ukr UKR 149 Ruslan Pidgornyy (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
fra FRA 150 Mickael Cherel (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:01:20
ger GER 151 Alexander Gottfried (Team Netapp) s.t.
ita ITA 152 Alessandro Bazzana (Team Type 1) s.t.
fra FRA 153 Anthony Ravard (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:01:21
esp ESP 154 Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
ita ITA 155 Mirco Lorenzetto (Astana) 00:01:22
ita ITA 156 Alfredo Balloni (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:25
ita ITA 157 Enrico Magazzini (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:26
ukr UKR 158 Valery Kobzarenko (Team Type 1) 00:01:28
aus AUS 159 Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) 00:01:40
ita ITA 160 Daniele Callegarin (Team Type 1) 00:01:50

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