Cancellara can't pick out his biggest win of the year

Fabian Cancellara can't really pick out his biggest victory in the 2009 season. “For me it's not just about the victory. It matters how I win,” the Swiss Saxo Bank rider said, proud to have ended his season with numerous victories after a weak spring season.

"It is really difficult to point out the biggest victory this year. It is easier to identify the most significant achievements that have had the greatest personal impact on me,” Cancellara said on the team's website.

The World championship in his native country “was a unique moment that I will never forget. It was specifically memorable to feel the atmosphere and the encouragement from my fans and it gives me the motivation and ability to make the body burn inside when it truly has to hurt in order to have a slight chance of winning.”

But also important to him were the time trial and overall victories in the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France prologue. He topped his season off with two stage wins in the Vuelta a Espana and the Worlds time trial title. Those end-of-season wins gave Cancellara “great morale and motivation after a somewhat disappointing spring where the results did not meet my own expectations."

Now, the Swiss native is using the off-season to spend time with his family and friends, but is also staying in shape with tennis, jogging and mountain bike. “It is good cardiovascular training and it gives me a great opportunity to exercise my co-ordination ability and technique. From now on, I increase the training volume in preparation for next year's season and the hours on the road are intensified gradually."

The 28-year-old has not yet set his 2010 racing calendar, although he noted he is “very motivated to do well in the spring classics where I would like to get a rematch.”

Follow Cyclingnews on Twitter for the very latest coverage of events taking place in the cycling world - twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed.