Cancellara aims for the Tour
By Jesper Johannesen, Feltet.dk Swiss time trial and prologue specialist Fabian says he is looking...
By Jesper Johannesen, Feltet.dk
Swiss time trial and prologue specialist Fabian says he is looking forward to new challenges at Team CSC after three years at Fassa Bortolo. He racked up five victories in 2005 and ended the season with a bronze medal at the world time trial championships.
"I've ridden for Fassa Bortolo for many years," says Cancellara. "I needed a change, and I would have decided to change team, even if the team hadn't closed. I had to find some new motivation, and I'm sure I'll find it on this team."
The future CSC rider's goals for the 2006 season will be the spring Classics, where he hopes to be able to fight for the podium spots.
"I'll start with the Classics, and then I might be riding in the Tour de France, though that won't be decided until about before a month after the Classics. But I do want to ride the Tour. My goals for the classics will be Milano-San Remo, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix."
Cancellara is excited at the prospect of returning to the Tour after creditable performances in 2004 - when he won the prologue - and 2005. He says he has already taken a look at the parcours, and says he'll miss one aspect of previous Tours that's been dropped for 2006.
"I've looked at the route for the Tour - it looks very hard," he says. "The Tour is always hard, because it's ridden over three weeks and at a very fast pace. I think it's a shame, though, that the team time trial has been cancelled, as cycling is very much about team work, and that's an important signal to send to the outside world. The Tour isn't a one-man-show, but a team show."
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Cancellara is one of eight new riders on Team CSC for the next season. Besides him, the team has been strengthened with the two neo pro Danes, Kasper Klostergaard and Martin Pedersen, Stuart O'Grady, Karsten Kroon, Marcus Ljungqvist, Iñigo Cuesta and Volymir Gustov.
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