Cancellara wins Tour of Switzerland

Eurosport - Mon, 22 Jun 15:21:00 2009

Fabian Cancellara stormed to victory in the nine-day Tour of Switzerland after an impressive performance in the final 39-km individual time trial in his home town of Berne.

CYCLING 2009 Tour of Switzerland Saxo Bank Fabian Cancellara - 0

It was a first triumph in a major stage-race for Cancellara, more noted as a one-day specialist and time trialist.

The Swiss started the day four seconds behind Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia but raced away to victory in just under 46 minutes with Germany's Tony Martin second at 1:27.

In the overall standings that meant Cancellara had 2:02 to spare over Martin. Valjavec slipped to seventh at 3:45.

The winner said: "I had to really go deep and hurt myself on the uphill finishes in the last few days because I'm not a climber.

"Thanks to some vital help from my team mates I managed to limit my losses and set up my shot at overall victory."

"It was great to win in the final time trial like that and great to seal victory at home in front of my family and thousands of people who support me."

Cancellara's next objective is the opening time trial stage at the Tour de France which he has won twice previously.

He said: "I'd love to try and win the Tour de France one day but I'm not ready yet and this year's race is very hilly."

Stage Nine results

1. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland / Saxo Bank ) 45mins 59secs

2. Tony Martin (Germany / Columbia ) +1:27"

3. Thomas Dekker (Netherlands / Silence - Lotto ) +1:42"

4. Markus Burghardt (Germany / Columbia ) +1:43"

5. Sylvain Chavanel (France / Quick-Step ) +1:48"

6. Cameron Meyer (Australia / Garmin ) +1:50"

7. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic / Liquigas ) +2:00"

8. Brian Vandborg (Denmark / Liquigas ) +2:02"

9. Andreas Kloeden (Germany / Astana ) +2:09"

10. Thor Hushovd (Norway / Cervelo ) +2:14"

11. Vladimir Karpets (Russia / Katusha ) +2:21"

12. Alessandro Ballan (Italy / Lampre ) +2:24"

13. Heinrich Haussler (Germany / Cervelo ) +2:33"

14. Damiano Cunego (Italy / Lampre )

15. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg / Saxo Bank ) +2:37"

16. Stuart O'Grady (Australia / Saxo Bank ) +2:40"

17. Brett Lancaster (Australia / Cervelo ) +2:41"

18. Francis De Greef (Belgium / Silence - Lotto ) +2:43"

19. Carlos Barredo (Spain / Quick-Step ) +2:44"

20. Ryder Hesjedal (Canada / Garmin ) +2:46"

21. Peter Velits (Slovakia / Milram ) +2:47"

22. Branislav Samoilav (Belarus / Quick-Step ) +2:57"

23. George Hincapie (U.S. / Columbia ) +2:58"

24. Rein Taaramaee (Estonia / Cofidis ) +3:00"

25. Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Norway / Saxo Bank )

26. Maxime Monfort (Belgium / Columbia )

27. Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg / Columbia ) +3:01"

28. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne ) +3:03"

29. Arnaud Gerard (France / Francaise des Jeux )

30. Gustav Larsson (Sweden / Saxo Bank )

Reuters

Comment 1 - 9 of 9

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  1. they all easy from the armchair

    From quercus.gill, on Wed 24 Jun 1:37PM

  2. That was the easiest Tour of Switzerland in history.­ Almost no major climbs and if so way to far from the­ end. You couldnt even consider the Mountain top­ finishes being ones. Anybody could have won the tour of­ Switzerland and in the end the time trial made the­ difference. The tour was totally made for Cancellara­ and in my opinion boring and lame.

    From Andre, on Mon 22 Jun 3:16PM

  3. agree with u djwinners but it reminds me of nadal­ saying after he won his first french open that he­ wanted to win wimbledon and nobody could believe it, in­ the end it was nadal who proved them wrong, i know its­ a far fetched comparison but there are big­ similarities, personally cant see fabian ever being the­ kind of climber that could win the tour but a story it­ would be if he could one day. wow that would be a tour­ and a half. cheers

    From ralph, on Mon 22 Jun 9:37AM

  4. Appreciate the point, but it really comes down to­ limiting losses in areas of weakness. Indurain used to­ limit his losses in the mountains to seconds, but take­ minutes out of the climbers in the TTs. No reason­ Cancellara couldn't adopt this model, but problem­ is, some of the climbers have become much better TT­ riders, so not sure where the 'tipping point'­ would be. I suppose conventional wisdom would dictate­ that the CG in a Grand Tour is probably beyond him.

    From pedro118118, on Mon 22 Jun 9:26AM

  5. yeah he did. but i think his statement about winning­ the tour de france is far out i personally dont see­ that happening, just because of the smaller lighter­ climbers

    From djwiners, on Mon 22 Jun 9:09AM

  6. Amazing effort for such a big guy to win such a hilly­ stage race. Surely if he could shift some of the excess­ bulk, whilst retaining the power, we could have another­ Miguel Indurain on our hands?! The article says it was­ his first major stage race victory, but didn't he­ win Terreno Adriatico??

    From pedro118118, on Mon 22 Jun 8:54AM

  7. wow - what an ITT! Well done Spartacus! Enjoy your­ Rivella tonight!

    From Scott W, on Sun 21 Jun 8:53PM

  8. Spartacus does it again!!!

    From El Quaveros, on Sun 21 Jun 8:42PM

  9. Go Cancellara! You're the best!!!

    From odineuskadi, on Sun 21 Jun 7:23PM
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