Is Fabian Cancellara past his prime?

[pedaling squares]

isso you may well have a good point there, but I'm still laughing at the four names you listed. To be discussed elsewhere...

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

its time boys.

after coming second in M-SR, second on the ronde and fifth in roubaix last year tommeke had the right to have a couple of this type of threads. the canc is no exception.

second in M-SR, the ronde and roubaix and now third at the worlds. also got beaten by martin in both the tour and the vuelta itt's.

the guy is clearly past it

I've been wondering the same. Hes only 30-ish, so age wise should not be over the hill, but hes been doing it so long maybe hes just wearing down. Still, hes got some wins this year... just not the big fish.

 

[zigmeister]

Yes, 3rd place is horrible for the TT worlds results. He should retire.

 

[sagard]

I'm betting he is just trying to get a little space in the road race.

 

[Midnightfright]

I originally thought this thread title was is Fabian Cancellara Optimus Prime. I was looking forward to hearing you explain that parrulo.

 

[cromagnon]

new team new program. c'est la vie

 

[hfer07]

THE RIIS-LESS EFFECT

A year pass he literally had no match againts the clock & the Classics-suddenly he's "less dominant" in those kind of races -hmmmm- I'ts crystal clear to me that his team swap had the wrong effect on him-and I ain't talking about the sponsors nor the team mates either

 

[titan_90]

He is just saving it for the road race on Sunday

 

[Mellow Velo]

This year, he seems to beginning to show signs of wear and tear.
Years of pulling and policing the peloton.
Only one solution.
Stick with the Smucks and join Bruyneel's beetroot juice boys.
Should be good for another decade or so.

 

[Midnightfright]

This year, he seems to beginning to show signs of wear and tear.
Year's of pulling and policing the peloton.
Only one solution.
Stick with the Smucks and join Bruyneel's beetroot juice boys.
Should be good for another decade or so.

I lose all that hair fit in with the club. Ha ha.

 

[DirtyWorks]

2012's spring classics aren't going to go well for Spartacus at RaNT. The Hog brings a team for the one-days but doesn't have the tactical skill to do well. Add that Spartacus is a marked man in the peloton anyway and my guess is there will be genuine frustration at RaNT and apathy until they need him at the TdF. At the end of 2012 The Hog plays the bad guy and asks Spartacus where his results are. End of contract.

If he stays at RaNT his 2012 will not have many podiums. That's different than calling for his retirement.

 

[maltiv]

All Cancellara needs to dominate the spring classics again is a half decent team. As long as he has that then it doesn't matter whether they mark him or not, as we saw in 2010. They only need to bring him to the last 40 kms somewhat rested. This year he had basically 0 domestiques left with 100 kms to go so obviously then it's almost impossible to win.

 

[luckyboy]

He has Rast and Klemme, and someone said 2 others are going to join to help him out. Can't see who they would be though.

 

[taiwan]

He got 2nd in milan-san remo, 2nd in roubaix, 3rd in flanders, and 3rd in the world TT championships; yeah he is never going to win a race again after such a terrible season. Come on people just because this season didn't match up against last season you assume he's past his prime. I can't wait to hear what you say next season when Gilbert doesn't win everything like he did this year.

He just lost O'Grady. Klemme looked really strong in that French race though. Will they have Rosseler?

 

[Tank Engine]

Well, I didn't really see this thread coming a few months ago when Cancellara tore up Harelbeke, was an absolute monster at RVV, and had half the peloton marking him in PR. I guess you're either on top or you're on your way out the door. I say no - not yet past his prime. Martin destroyed him today, and Le Tour didn't exactly go his way, but that doesn't mean his best-before date has passed. I didn't see anything in the spring to suggest that Cancellara isn't still the best at his type of race.

I agree. Spartacus was the strongest by far on the cobbles this spring and I would be surprised if he wasn't next year (with regard to such races, age tends to kick in later and there's no obvious no. 2 this year). However, Martin was an obvious no. 2 in TTs last year and is coming towards his peak, so he had to start beating the Gladiator at TTs at some point.

 

[Parrulo]

i think the classics this year (cobbled ones ofc) had a thing that went a bit into canc's favour and a lot against him.

boonen's lack of form and luck. while without boonen out of competition canc has no match in terms of mano a mano competition he also doesn't has a guy that helps him make the race. i think we all agree that boonen would never spend the entire roubaix on canc's wheel waiting for the velodrome thats just not who he is, he would have attacked and caused splits and helped canc chase the front group and that would put canc in a much better situation then he was(on roubaix) on the ronde he overestimated himself and his lost was his own fault.

still i would be utterly shocked if neither boonen nor canc won one of the cobbled monuments next year.

 

[El Pistolero]

i think the classics this year (cobbled ones ofc) had a thing that went a bit into canc's favour and a lot against him.

boonen's lack of form and luck. while without boonen out of competition canc has no match in terms of mano a mano competition he also doesn't has a guy that helps him make the race. i think we all agree that boonen would never spend the entire roubaix on canc's wheel waiting for the velodrome thats just not who he is, he would have attacked and caused splits and helped canc chase the front group and that would put canc in a much better situation then he was(on roubaix) on the ronde he overestimated himself and his lost was his own fault.

still i would be utterly shocked if neither boonen nor canc won one of the cobbled monuments next year.

You could have thrown at least one Hushovd insult in there.

I'm disappointed.

 

[Anonymous]

2012's spring classics aren't going to go well for Spartacus at RaNT. The Hog brings a team for the one-days but doesn't have the tactical skill to do well. Add that Spartacus is a marked man in the peloton anyway and my guess is there will be genuine frustration at RaNT and apathy until they need him at the TdF. At the end of 2012 The Hog plays the bad guy and asks Spartacus where his results are. End of contract.

If he stays at RaNT his 2012 will not have many podiums. That's different than calling for his retirement.

If he's going as good as he was in 2010, he needs neither a team nor a DS... Just a good mechanic for the quick bike change Plus, hog will likely bring Demol with him and isn't Andersen staying?

Hog only likes to be in the car when the whole world is watching... and that means handing out the champagne on the last stage of the TdF.

 

[Anonymous]

i think the classics this year (cobbled ones ofc) had a thing that went a bit into canc's favour and a lot against him.

boonen's lack of form and luck. while without boonen out of competition canc has no match in terms of mano a mano competition he also doesn't has a guy that helps him make the race. i think we all agree that boonen would never spend the entire roubaix on canc's wheel waiting for the velodrome thats just not who he is, he would have attacked and caused splits and helped canc chase the front group and that would put canc in a much better situation then he was(on roubaix) on the ronde he overestimated himself and his lost was his own fault.

still i would be utterly shocked if neither boonen nor canc won one of the cobbled monuments next year.

Did you notice that neither Boonen or Haussler has done much this year? Knee injuries are a b*tch.

I am not convinced that either of them ever get back to that super level...

 

[El Pistolero]

Did you notice that neither Boonen or Haussler has done much this year? Knee injuries are a b*tch.

I am not convinced that either of them ever get back to that super level...

Yeah, stupid Cav!

 

[spanky wanderlust]

those x-ray machines are a biyaaatch!

 

[Eric8-A]

It's really hard to tell. Didn't Cancellara say he was going to skip the TT this year and focus more on the road?

I do agree that he looked stronger in the first part of the season. And for some reason just went down after Suisse. I really thought he was just conserving himself, but when I saw that he was 40 something seconds down at the halfway point, I knew there was no way he was going to pull back that much time. I'm a big fan of Cancellara and I'm not gonna admit his prowess in the TT is over.

As for Martin, I strongly doubt he'll match Fabio's 4 titles. Maybe a repeat next year, but that's about it. I think if he wants to be the grand tour contender he wants to be, his time trialing is gonna suffer a bit because of that. But I doubt it since he'll most likely be working for Levi of Peter. Also, there's a certain 22 year old that really showed himself today that could be a future threat in the time trial.

 

[thehog]

I think mentality PR and Flanders killed him this year. He's wasn't right at the Tour and was very little help to the Shlecks. Its fairly obvious he's dissatisfied being at Leopard. Some of it is his own making but he really needs to be in a team that suits him. I don't think Saxo or Leopard is that team. I'd say a classics team with a stage hunting emphasis in GT's. Working for the Shlecks and getting ziltch in return must hit hard. He won't want to be doing that again. I'd say go to Garmin.

 

[Bennyl]

I think mentality PR and Flanders killed him this year. He's wasn't right at the Tour and was very little help to the Shlecks. Its fairly obvious he's dissatisfied being at Leopard. Some of it is his own making but he really needs to be in a team that suits him. I don't think Saxo or Leopard is that team. I'd say a classics team with a stage hunting emphasis in GT's. Working for the Shlecks and getting ziltch in return must hit hard. He won't want to be doing that again. I'd say go to Garmin.

I agree. Fabian hasn't passed his prime, he just needs some love. He would be the number 1 rider on most rosters, but instead has to work for the spoilt Schleck boys. I'd be fed up and a little tired as well...

 

[El Pistolero]

I think mentality PR and Flanders killed him this year. He's wasn't right at the Tour and was very little help to the Shlecks. Its fairly obvious he's dissatisfied being at Leopard. Some of it is his own making but he really needs to be in a team that suits him. I don't think Saxo or Leopard is that team. I'd say a classics team with a stage hunting emphasis in GT's. Working for the Shlecks and getting ziltch in return must hit hard. He won't want to be doing that again. I'd say go to Garmin.

The only decent team for Cancellara would be Quickstep. And he's not Belgian and Boonen would be in his way.