Talkingshop: Fabian Cancellara

Prendas_BannerAdvertJuly2011

Paul Burgoine talks to the man of the moment, Fabian Cancellara about his injuries and how he feels ahead of Paris-Roubaix

RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes

Interview

PB: Fabian how are you after the two crashes?
FB: ”The first crash was just one of those things that happen and the second was not in our schedule either. I feel lucky to be here and looking forward to Sunday but I don’t know if I can say I feel 100% like last week but I have a mission to finish Sundays race. I remember what happened last year so I’m happy I am here. It’s a bit painful. I tried to ride hard on Thursday and Saturday I will ride. On Wednesday, I fell at 55kpm and Thursday 20kph and sometimes at a lower speed you get more damage.”

2013_Fabian_Cancellera_PR_Roubaix

PB: Where are you hurting and do you think it will affect you?
FC: ”From the first crash I feel I have recovered really well but the second one I feel the left bone on the hip this hurts the most but when you finish Paris-Roubaix you have damage all over your body so I go into the race with a small handicap but I can block out the pain. I will just do what I have to do”.

PB: Is there a particular rider you rely on in the race?
FC: ”Of course we all know what we are going to do, we work as a team. We have our Directors in the cars and people at the side of the road who help us with bidons, wheels. It’s very important to have all these people and you need luck with your equipment. That’s how this race is and after two crashes I hope my luck is back. We will all stick to our jobs as we know this is probably the biggest one day race in the world”.

PB: Is there any one rider that you are worried about in the race?
FC: ”Well Roubaix is a lot different to Flanders. There are a few teams that have strong riders and they have to do something so it’s up to them what they do. You look at BMC, but just to put name’s on it is impossible. They have a whole team of winners.

2013_Cancellera_E3

Also, Team Sky and Lotto have a lot of possibilities. I expect a lot from them but also Omega Pharma Quickstep who are under pressure because they have not won the races they might have thought they would win. They will all make our lives really hard. The French rider Turgot from Eurocar will be strong. There are many, many riders. We saw a few years ago when the big break went away and Van Summeren won that anything can happen.

This is Roubaix, its special and everyone wants to go in the break because when you are in it you can relax a bit more than the people in the peloton who are fighting for position. But two hundred riders cannot go in the break, but if lots of people go, then I will go. Then we will have special Paris-Roubaix”.

PB: Do you feel more pressure being the only name everyone is talking about?
FC: “I feel a bit more tension that there is only one name, always only one name, but that’s from the outside. I close the door when I go home and I’m a normal person like everyone else. There is not just one name in social media; in the papers and on the news there’s only one name though.

When you go into the details, it’s a bike race and everyone has ambitions. There are other teams under pressure but we are lucky we have won a race. We could just fly out to warm weather but no, we just continue as this is the last race of our big goals. If they just look at us, they make a war against themselves”

PB: Did you think at the start of the season you would be on for the double in the ‘Holy Week?’
FB: ”No, not at all. The first goal was in Strade Bianchi to test my condition, then the first step was San Remo then from there onto Paris-Roubaix. Flanders and my other wins are more than enough but I’m still hungry and the third stone is missing from my home and the double will be big in the history books”.

 

 

RST Cycle Clothing & Trigon Bikes

Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)

Other News on VeloUK

Tags: ,