Cancellara - a la Merckx! Swiss crushes Roubaix

I sit here and watch Roubaix live on Flemish TV, and the direct quote from one of the lead announcers was perfect... "Cancellara, a la Merckx."

The Swiss chrono specialist used a perfectly timed attack to secure a place in the history books, but also a place of legend and myth. With nearly 50km to go, Spartacus slid away from a small chase group and quickly bridged to the lead trio. He dispatched to small group on the next set of cobbles and assumed his all too familiar time trial position. The chasers, particularily Belgian rock star Tom Boonen, two-champ of Roubaix, were dismayed and defeated immediately, resigned to race for 2nd and 3rd.

Comparisons to Merckx legends flashed instantly to all those familiar with such stories. But unlike Merckx, who sometimes used such moves in flashes of audacity and ego, Cancellara's move came out of pure necessity and perfect tactical timing. As the race flowed through the 50km point, race favorite number two, Boonen, showed a bit of impatience, and attacked hard to break up a large front group of 25-30 favorites. The move worked, and a small group of around a dozen emerged from the blow. A small raiding party led by Lotto's Leif Hoste, sped away on the exit of the cobbles. The chasers were ever so slightly strung out by a moderately fast pace as Boonen slipped towards the back of the group to asses the damage and take a drink. Cancellara recognized this as the perfect time. He was now isolated without teammate Matti Breschel, and his main rival Boonen, who certainly could outsprint Cancellara, was slacking at the perfect moment.

Cancellara neither lept out of the saddle, nor soft pedalled off the front... he missled his way silently but with enormous power and speed, and left the others, defeated nearly immediately.

I am literally writing this story with 23km to go and the gap is over two minutes. When Cancellara went away, I said, "It's over, he's gone, he's going to win by over two minutes!". A la Merckx indeed! Incredible win for Fabian Canellara, one I'll never forget.