Cancellara Conquers TT World Championships

Reigning Olympic time trial champion, Fabian Cancellara, expanded his collection of gold medals by winning the 2009 Men’s Elite Individual Time Trial in Mendrisio, Switzerland. Powering his prototype Specialized S-Works Shiv TT machine, the Swiss man nicknamed “Spartacus” simply crushed the competition, establishing a dominant lead by the first time check and adding to it virtually every meter thereafter.

Over three laps on the 16.6km (10.3mi) circuit, Cancellara left second place Gustav Larsson (fellow teammate on Saxo Bank, and also riding a Shiv) 1:27 in his wake, with third place Tony Martin 2:30 in arrears.

“I was absolutely flying on home ground today,” said Fabian at the finish. “I was well aware that it was going to take some hard work to reach my goal, so I started out the time trial with everything I had. I'm really glad to regain the World Champion’s jersey. I have been working hard to reach this condition.”

The victory bookends a season in which Cancellara has owned races against the clock. In February, he won his first TT of the year on an S-Works Transition at the Tour of California prologue, battled through setbacks in the Spring Classics, only to return to form at the Tour de France.

He might not be finished. This weekend, Cancellara will swap his TT bike for a Tarmac SL3 in the Men’s Elite Road Race. “It is clear that I also have ambitions regarding the course on Sunday.”