FABIAN CANCELLARA

PATRON OF THE PELOTON?

“There is no patron of the peloton any more,” said David Millar a few months ago, explaining that younger riders tend not to even respect, let alone defer to, an older generation whose doping past has so damaged their sport’s reputation. And while the Scot is right up to a point, a pack mentality still does seem to exist and with it the role of alpha male.

One memorable example was the 2010 Tour stage to Spa, when Fabian Cancellara unilaterally enforced a ceasefire while his team-mate Andy Schleck recovered from a crash. Cancellara clearly established his credentials that day but also undermined them as far as some onlookers were concerned.

One peloton insider, indeed, tells us that certain other riders now refer to the Swiss not by his familiar nickname, ‘ Spartacus’, but as ‘Chief Commissaire Cancellara’. The same individual assures us that Jérôme Pineau, Jens Voigt and Bernie Eisel all command more authority. Nevertheless, none of that trio can boast Cancellara’s palmarès or the kind of profile that might convince a potential sponsor to finally sign up, as Trek did last autumn.