Fabian Cancellara book extract
In a new book charting the career of the recently-retired Swiss legend, Fabian Cancellara reveals the love-hate relationship he shared with the Tour
Initially there was a lot of love between the Tour de France and the Swiss cyclist. “It was a special race for me, for the sponsors, and it fitted perfectly into my schedule. After the classics I would take a break and start preparing for the Tour. It quickly became a habit for me. I was therefore very disappointed when in 2006, during my first year at CSC, team manager Bjarne Riis told me I hadn’t been selected. He needed an extra climber to assist Ivan Basso in the high mountains. I found that difficult to accept. As the winner of Paris-Roubaix, I thought my place in the Tour team was secure. But then when Operación Puerto [Spanish Police investigation into the doping network of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes] erupted one week before the start in Strasbourg, with all the doping stories and riders who were sent home, I was glad I wasn’t part of the circus.”
That prologue win in Liège was just the start. Curiously he won all his prologue victories on non-French soil.
“London [2007] was by far the best. That was the best prologue I’ve ever ridden. Everything went according to plan, and in an unlikely setting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people standing at the side of the road. Monaco was the least expected, because everyone thought the course would be too difficult. Rotterdam was good too, and the fact that my last Tour prologue and stage win was in Liège, eight years after my first yellow jersey there, was, in hindsight, symbolic.”
You can get used to wearing the yellow jersey, Cancellara confesses. “Over the years it became almost par for the course. Win the prologue, wear
the yellow jersey for a few days, my teammates at the front of the peloton, everything in yellow. A yellow bike already in the truck because the team was so confident in me. Losing the jersey always led to a bit of a mental dip. The Tour wasn’t always pleasant for me. I’ve been ill during it, I’ve battled against the time limit. I even had to pull out while wearing the yellow jersey in 2015, after a terrible crash on the way to Huy.”
Although Cancellara can be proud of his many personal successes in the Tour over the years, 2008 was special for a different reason. He didn’t win any stages himself – although he was subsequently assigned a time trial victory after the doping suspension of the German Stefan Schumacher – but he was able to help teammate Carlos Sastre celebrate his overall victory in Paris after three long weeks. Cancellara delivered some particularly flawless performances in the high mountains.
“It was never a problem for me to work for a classification rider,” he says. “In fact, those were the best years. We lined up at the start as a group and we would have gone through fire for each other as comrades. Jens Voigt, Kurt Asle Arvesen, Nicki Sorensen, Stuart O’Grady: we were the midfielders who had to set up the strikers. Team manager Bjarne Riis excelled at putting together the perfect team. Riding the Tour with CSC and Saxo Bank was just the best experience. Things were never quite the same after I left Bjarne, at least as far as the Tour was concerned. Even with Johan Bruyneel at Radio-Shack-Nissan-Trek in 2012.”
The efforts of Cancellara and his teammates during the 2008 Tour were finally rewarded when Sastre secured victory.
“Cycling through Paris at the side of the overall winner gave me an incredible feeling. We won the team classification that year too. No surprise really, with top-class riders like Sastre and the Schleck brothers in the squad. For me, that Tour was the ideal preparation for the Beijing Games. I felt myself getting stronger day by day, so much so that I even took charge of the penultimate climb on the way to Alpe d’Huez. Everyone looked surprised, but a classics rider in top form is capable of a lot in the third week. If everything came together, even a few Alpine cols weren’t a problem, thanks to Bjarne Riis, the greatest motivator I’ve ever worked with.”
Despite the successes, the Tour was evolving from a goal to an obligation for the Swiss cyclist. “In the early years it was fun to wear the yellow jersey. Riders would listen to the classification leader. After the crash in the stage on the way to Spa in 2010, I personally asked the peloton to slow down. Not because my teammates Fränk and Andy Schleck were behind, but because the roads were too dangerous. I didn’t care that I lost the yellow jersey to Chavanel. I got it back the next day anyway. But in 2015, when I rode in yellow for the last time, all respect for the yellow jersey was completely gone. Nowadays the Tour means nervousness and stress, there are a lot more falls than before, and respect for each other and the team of the race leader has gone.”
Looking back on the Tour today, Cancellara has mixed feelings. “The race gave me a lot but it also took a lot away from me,” he says. “When I was younger I loved going to the Tour, but the race has changed over the years and so have I.
“The Tour has got bigger and is increasingly stressful and inconvenient for the riders. The older I became, the less I looked forward to it. If it hadn’t been for that stage arriving in Bern, I’m not sure I would have gone to the Tour in my last year. The love was gone.”
He is also critical of ASO, the organiser of the Tour. “I recognise the importance of ASO for cycling and see how many races they organise in the course of the season. But ASO is too controlling. As a top rider, you get to hear a lot about the political scheming behind the scenes between the UCI and ASO or an interest group like Velon. As far as I’m concerned, it’s clear: you can’t negotiate or discuss with the Tour. The Tour is the biggest and wants to stay the biggest, without thinking of the general interests of the sport. The Tour has become a commercial machine that lacks warmth. They want to create a monopoly for themselves and I can’t support that.”
Cancellara also feels he has not been recognised by the Tour. “In all these years, I’ve never been officially invited to the presentation of the Tour route. Despite the fact that, with my 29 yellow jerseys, I have meant something to the history of the Tour. General classification riders, top sprinters... they’re the ones who matter to ASO, and so they’re invited. But me, the time trialist who won five prologues, never. Yes, that did disappoint me. It would have shown respect if they’d invited me to the presentation just once. Maybe I’ll pop up in the Tour again, as a television presenter or something. But I’ll never go crawling to ASO for recognition!”
If you want to read more, you can save 20 per cent when you buy Fabian Cancellara from Bloomsbury Publishing, bloomsbury.com, using discount code BLCP20. Offer available to readers in the UK and Ireland, postage and packaging fees apply.
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