Fabian Cancellara beat out Tom Boonen, the current Belgian Champ, sprinter and unanimous favorite, on the last climb of the ToF and kept his lead for a solo victory. The Tof, also known as De Ronde Van Vlaanderen, is a road race on cobblestones. Paris-Roubaix is undeniably the most famous and prestigious cobblestone race, but the ToF cannot be denied its difficulty with a total of 15 climbs in 262 km.Cancellara is better known as a time trial specialist, having won many sinlge day races and taking the maillot jaune at the Tour of France during the prologue for the past two years and keeping it for a respectable amount of time. He is currently on Team Saxo Bank along with the Schleck brothers, the younger of which placed second in last years Tour de France and is a favorite for this years upcoming race.
Cancellara took the lead on the last climb of the day, known as the Muur [wall], and kept it for a solo win. “To attack on the Muur and leave Boonen behind is amazing. When I get old, to be able to say to young riders, ‘At the Ronde I attacked on the Muur, left Boonen behind and won alone,’ not in a sprint, or dropped and came back, but alone... it was the perfect scenario. The gladiator won the battle.” Although he may seem a little arrogant calling himself a gladiator, the reference is to his given nickname of Spartacus of which he happily embraces.
To watch the instant he is talking about watch the clip below right at 1:28. He destroys Boonen on the climb without even getting out of the saddle as Boonen struggles to keep up and fails. If you want some more vids, like interviews, click the jump.
Cancellara interviewed:
Boonen interviewed:
No comments:
Post a Comment