Team News – Crash Steals Cancellera’s Yellow

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Fabian Cancellera of Trek Factory Racing – “I expected to defend yellow today, not be lying on the ground at 80km/h”

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Team News – Crash Steals Cancellera’s Yellow

Team Trek Factory Racing Press Release

The Tour de France never ceases to entertain high drama, and Monday’s third stage from Anvers to the finish on the Mur de Huy saw a nasty hi-speed crash 58 kilometers from the end, which resulted in numerous riders sprawling on the tarmac and tumbling onto the grassy roadside, stopping the race for some 10 minutes.

Fabian Cancellara was caught in the melee, and although he was able to rejoin the race when it restarted, it was clear he was riding with too much discomfort and was soon left behind, regulating his reign in yellow to one day.

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After the long delay, it was a few kilometers before the peloton kicked back into action, but with the crucial hills drawing closer the race hit full speed again. Although the yellow jersey had fallen from its grasp, Trek Factory Racing turned full attention to the finish on the Mur de Huy. Bob Jungels led into the wall as he helped position Bauke Mollema and Julian Arredondo for the punishing uphill finish.

With 500 meters to go the punchers punched and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) opened a gap that no one could close and sealed the win. Mollema and Arredondo could not react to Rodriguez’s acceleration, but both held strong to finish 10th and 13th respectively.

Mollema: “The last two climbs I did not feel so good, but I knew it was important to start at the front. Bob Jungels put me in a really good position into the Mur. In the last 500 meters when they went full gas I could not follow anymore; I just did my own tempo – full gas – to the finish, and then in the last 100 meters I was able to close the gap to a small group with Nibali and Quintana so that was good. So it was a good day for the GC.

“It was totally different than Flèche Wallonne. The riders are different and we have already done two days of racing. And there is more stress here than at Flèche, you see that with all the crashes. Losing Fabian like that is a pity, we wanted to defend the yellow jersey and we didn’t get a chance to do it and that’s a shame.”

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Cancellara: “My back doesn’t feel good, and for sure it’s a big disappointment. I expected to defend yellow today, not be lying on the ground at 80km/h. One day you win, one day you lose. Like this, is for sure not nice.”

Cancellara fought to stay with the peloton until the first climb where he had little choice but to ride his own pace to the end, losing over 11 minutes and any chance to regain yellow back in tomorrow’s cobblestone stage.

Cancellara described the crash: “It was on a slight downhill, and I saw the crash happening on the right side and I was hoping I could sneak between the riders in the field, but there was a drainage gutter and in the end I got hit from the back, and hit this drain thing and I don’t even know what happened after that.”

“But thank you to the race organization to neutralize it. When you see so many people on the ground…it was the right thing to do.”

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