1. Fabian Cancellara is known for being a quality time trialist, a one-day classics specialist, and a workhorse for his teammates who have general classification aspirations.
134 Facts About Fabian Cancellara
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Fabian Cancellara won two consecutive World Junior Time Trial Championships in 1998 and 1999.
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Fabian Cancellara repeated as world champion in the time trial the next year, along with winning two stages at the Tour de France.
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The next season saw Fabian Cancellara again become world time trial champion and lead both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.
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In 2014, Fabian Cancellara repeated as winner of the Tour of Flanders.
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Since turning professional in 2000, Fabian Cancellara has ridden for four professional teams.
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Fabian Cancellara has won the opening stage of the Tour de France five times and has led the race for 29 days total, which is the most of any rider who has not won the Tour.
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Fabian Cancellara was born on 18 March 1981, in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland, to a Swiss mother and an Italian Swiss father.
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Fabian Cancellara discovered cycling at the age of 13 after falling in love with an old family bike that he had found in the garage and immediately gave up football to concentrate on cycling.
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Yvan Girard, Swiss national junior team coach from 1997 to 2005, was quoted saying that Fabian Cancellara was "head and shoulders above everyone else" in the time trials.
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Fabian Cancellara won the junior World Time Trial Championship in both 1998 and 1999 and at the age of 19 he came in second at the 2000 U-23 World Time Trial Championship.
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For 2002 the Mapei team split into two formations per UCI regulations, the "Top Team" with 25 riders and the GS-III "Gruppo Giovani" to develop young talents, which Fabian Cancellara joined with other riders including Filippo Pozzato, Michael Rogers and Bernhard Eisel.
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Squinzi said that Fabian Cancellara was going to be "The future Miguel Indurain".
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Fabian Cancellara's first victory came Tour Mediterraneen; he helped lead the Fassa Bortolo squad to victory in the race's final stage, which was a team time trial.
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Fabian Cancellara finished in the 73rd place and over ten minutes behind the winner.
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Fabian Cancellara was a consistent finisher throughout the race and because of that, he won the points classification for the Tour de Romandie.
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Fabian Cancellara earned his first victory in 2004 at the Tour of Qatar.
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Fabian Cancellara won the race's fourth stage after attacking in the final kilometers of the race and then out-sprinting the riders who were able to keep pace with him to win the stage.
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Up next on the calendar for Fabian Cancellara was the Tour of Flanders.
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Fabian Cancellara crossed the line in 42nd place, just a little over two minutes after the winner Steffen Wesemann.
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Fabian Cancellara showed great form during the race and was a member of the four-man group that was first to reach the finish line.
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Fabian Cancellara lost the sprint to the line and crossed the line in fourth.
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Fabian Cancellara won the prologue around the Belgian city of Liege and took the first yellow jersey as leader of the general classification.
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Fabian Cancellara lost the lead after the second stage to Thor Hushovd.
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Fabian Cancellara did participate in both the time trial and road race at the Road World Championships.
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Fabian Cancellara performed well in the time trial and came in eighth place; he finished over two minutes behind the winner.
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Fabian Cancellara entered the men's road race four days later, but did not finish the course.
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Fabian Cancellara finished the Tour with the same time as the winner Laszlo Bodrogi, but was given second overall by the organizers.
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Fabian Cancellara then started the Tour de France, but did not win any stages at the race.
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Fabian Cancellara then competed in the road race and the time trial at the Road World Championships.
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Fabian Cancellara finished in third place in the time trial event and missed out on a silver second place medal by twelve hundredths of a second.
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Fabian Cancellara signed a three-year contract with Team CSC during the 2005 Tour de France.
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Fabian Cancellara figured into the early breakaway and led the race for a good distance before being caught and ultimately finishing in 37th place.
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Fabian Cancellara finished sixth overall after being in the lead chase group that was in pursuit of the winner Tom Boonen and second-place finisher Leif Hoste.
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Fabian Cancellara was in the leading group of riders for most of the stage.
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Fabian Cancellara was not selected to ride with Team CSC at the Tour de France.
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Fabian Cancellara won the second stage and took the race lead after riding solo to victory.
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Fabian Cancellara expanded his lead after winning the stage fifth time trial by eighteen seconds over the second-placed finisher.
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Fabian Cancellara started the Tour of California and came closest to a stage win in stage five time trial, where he finished in fourth place.
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The next week, Fabian Cancellara lined up to race the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen.
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Fabian Cancellara missed out on the victory after Belgian rider Tom Boonen edged out Cancellara for the win.
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Eight days later, Fabian Cancellara raced the Tour of Flanders and came in 53rd place after his moves were not successful.
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Fabian Cancellara rode the Tour de Suisse and won the opening time trial, along with the final stage that was a time trial.
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Fabian Cancellara continued his success in the time trial with a victory in the Swiss national time trial.
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Fabian Cancellara won the prologue of the Tour de France in London, defeating Andreas Kloden of Astana by thirteen seconds.
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Fabian Cancellara crossed the finish line nursing his left hand but appeared to be fine during the yellow jersey presentation.
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Fabian Cancellara held the yellow jersey until stage seven, the Tour's first mountain stage.
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Fabian Cancellara achieved his goal and won the time trial by 52 seconds over second-place finisher Laszlo Bodrogi.
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Three days later, Fabian Cancellara raced the road race, but did not finish the course.
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Fabian Cancellara won the prologue of the Tour of California ahead of Olympic track gold medalist Bradley Wiggins in his first race of the season.
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Fabian Cancellara would go on to win the race by sixteen seconds over the second place rider.
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In preparation for the second half of the season, Fabian Cancellara rode the Tour de Luxembourg and the Tour de Suisse.
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Fabian Cancellara won the prologue of the Tour de Luxembourg and briefly held the overall lead because of the victory.
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Fabian Cancellara won the seventh and ninth stages through attacks in the closing kilometers of each stage.
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Fabian Cancellara proved to be a valuable asset to the squad as he helped his teammate Carlos Sastre to overall victory at the Tour.
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Fabian Cancellara was later awarded the stage win in the penultimate stage after the initial winner, Stefan Schumacher, tested positive for EPO.
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The race then came down to a sprint finish that was won by the Samuel Sanchez, with Davide Rebellin coming in second and Fabian Cancellara coming in third for a bronze medal.
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Fabian Cancellara was promoted to second place, and the initial fourth-place finisher Alexandr Kolobnev was promoted to third place.
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On 18 December 2010, Fabian Cancellara received the same physical medal initially given to Rebellin, in a ceremony held in his hometown of Ittigen, Switzerland.
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Four days after racing the road race, Fabian Cancellara raced the time trial event.
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Fabian Cancellara won the gold medal by winning the race by over thirty seconds to Swedish rider Gustav Larsson.
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Fabian Cancellara did not finish the sixth stage of the race; he left the event without winning a single stage.
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Fabian Cancellara won the opening time trial of the race and the time trial on stage nine en route to his overall victory.
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Fabian Cancellara won the opening time trial and then held the lead of the race until the race's fourth stage.
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Fabian Cancellara briefly regained the lead of the race after winning the time trial on stage seven, but he lost the lead after the next stage's conclusion.
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Fabian Cancellara dominated the time trial event and won by a margin of close a minute and a half over the second-place finisher.
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Fabian Cancellara kicked off his 2010 campaign with an overall victory at the Tour of Oman.
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Fabian Cancellara gained the lead after the race's final stage and won the race without winning a single stage.
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Fabian Cancellara first attacked in the race on the Molenberg with about 44 kilometres remaining in the race and only Boonen was able to mark his efforts.
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Fabian Cancellara made a move during the Mons-en-Pevele portion of the race with more than 50 kilometres to go in the race and no one was able to match his efforts.
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Fabian Cancellara then rode solo all the way to the finish in the Roubaix Velodrome and finished two minutes ahead the second-place finisher Thor Hushovd.
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Fabian Cancellara completed the Tour of California without winning a single stage.
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Fabian Cancellara's next victory came at the Tour de Suisse where he won the prologue, which was an individual time trial around the city of Lugano.
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Fabian Cancellara came close to another stage win in the stage nine individual time trial, but fell short by seventeen seconds.
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Fabian Cancellara then held the lead until the second stage came to an end, after stage winner Sylvain Chavanel took it away.
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However, Fabian Cancellara regained the lead the after the next day and held it until stage seven when Chavanel again took the lead.
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Later in the Tour, Fabian Cancellara won the stage nineteen individual time trial that stretched from Bordeaux to Pauillac by seventeen seconds over German rider Tony Martin.
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The Road World Championships took place in Melbourne and Fabian Cancellara returned to the event to defend his title as world champion of the time trial discipline.
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Fabian Cancellara won the time trial by over a minute to the second-place finisher and in doing so, he became the first four-time men's world champion of the time trial.
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Fabian Cancellara dismissed Cassani's claims saying that they were "stupid" and far too risky to do.
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Fabian Cancellara positioned himself in an eight-man breakaway that made it all the way to the finish.
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Fabian Cancellara launched an attack with about 60 kilometres left to go in the race and caught up with the leader Sylvain Chavanel; however, Cancellara cracked after Chavanel did not help with the pacing and the two were picked up by a chasing group on the Muur van Geraardsbergen.
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Fabian Cancellara finished in second place after a crash hurt him early on, as did being a member of a chasing group that did not work with him to catch the leading riders.
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Fabian Cancellara won the prologue and was the first to wear the race leader's yellow jersey.
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Fabian Cancellara then held the lead until the second stage came to a close when stage winner Linus Gerdemann took the lead away from him.
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Fabian Cancellara then raced the Tour de Suisse and won the opening and closing stages of the race, which were both individual time trials.
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Up next for Fabian Cancellara was the Vuelta a Espana, where he helped his team achieve victory in the stage one's team time trial.
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Fabian Cancellara came with the hopes of winning a third consecutive time trial world crown; however, he would finish in third place after the winner Martin and runner-up Wiggins.
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Four days later, Fabian Cancellara lined up to race the road race.
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The race came down to a sprint finish that was won by Mark Cavendish; Fabian Cancellara barely missed a medal after finishing in fourth place.
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Fabian Cancellara was one of the favourites to win the renewed Tour of Flanders but played no part in the final due to a crash in the feed zone.
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Fabian Cancellara suffered a four-part fracture of the right collarbone which ruined his spring campaign.
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Fabian Cancellara subsequently lost the jersey to Wiggins of Team Sky after conceding almost two minutes on the seventh stage, which finished on top of a steep Category 1 climb leading to Planche des Belles Filles.
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Fabian Cancellara withdrew from the Tour after the eleventh stage to return home to support his wife before the birth of their second child.
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Fabian Cancellara returned to compete in the road race at the Olympic Games.
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Fabian Cancellara was the leading rider of a massive breakaway when he badly negotiated a right turn with about 15 kilometres to cover and fell heavily on his right shoulder.
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Fabian Cancellara completed the race, finishing approximately five minutes after the winner, the Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov, but was in obvious pain and could not hold his handlebar properly with his right hand.
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Fabian Cancellara required further surgery on his collarbone to get the stabilizing vises out of his body.
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Fabian Cancellara began the 2013 campaign with the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of Oman, but failed to collect any victories.
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Fabian Cancellara came close to a stage victory in the race's stage seven individual time trial, but missed the win by twelve seconds.
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The race was marred by poor weather conditions, but Fabian Cancellara remained near the front and managed to place third overall after losing out in the sprint for the finish line.
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Fabian Cancellara's attack was successful and he powered on solo into the finish and won his second Tour of Flanders.
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On 7 June 2013 it was announced that Fabian Cancellara would ride the Tour of Austria.
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Fabian Cancellara placed sixteenth overall in the stage 1 individual time trial.
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Days after finishing the Tour de Suisse, Fabian Cancellara entered and won the men's time trial event at the Swiss Road Championships for the eighth time in his career.
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Fabian Cancellara won the stage 7 individual time trial by a margin of 22 seconds over the second-place finisher, before completing the race the next day.
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Fabian Cancellara went in hoping to win the time trial, and the second-place finish on the stage left him disappointed.
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Fabian Cancellara entered the Vuelta a Espana and helped assist RadioShack-Leopard to a second-place finish in the race's opening team time trial.
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Fabian Cancellara won the stage eleven individual time trial by a margin of 37 seconds over reigning world champion Tony Martin.
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Fabian Cancellara then rode in support of team leader and eventual Vuelta winner Chris Horner until the seventeenth stage, after which he left the race in order to focus on the World Championships.
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Fabian Cancellara was seen as a contender for the gold medal in both the men's time trial and road race events at the UCI Road World Championships.
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Fabian Cancellara finished the time trial in third position, 48 seconds behind the winner Tony Martin, earning a bronze medal.
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Four days after completing the time trial event, Fabian Cancellara entered the Elite Men's road race.
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For most of the race, Fabian Cancellara stayed near the front of race, before being dropped however on the final climb of the day and fighting his way to tenth place.
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Fabian Cancellara began the 2014 cycling season by competing in the inaugural Dubai Tour.
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The first stage of the race was a brief individual time trial which Fabian Cancellara managed to complete 25 seconds slower than the stage winner Taylor Phinney.
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Fabian Cancellara managed to hold his fifth place overall to the race's finish that ended in front of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
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Fabian Cancellara finished the race in 67th overall in the general classification.
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Fabian Cancellara had one top ten result with his second-place finish in the stage seven individual time trial.
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Norwegian Alexander Kristoff won the bunch sprint and the race, while Fabian Cancellara finished in second position.
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Fabian Cancellara came to the race a favorite, but his goal of winning the race were erased when it came down to a field sprint, where he finished in thirty-eighth position.
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Fabian Cancellara out-sprinted the three other riders to win his third edition of the Tour of Flanders.
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Fabian Cancellara made a move in the Carrefour de l'Arbre sector and which led to the formation of a lead group.
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The group came to the line twenty seconds after the winner, with Fabian Cancellara managing to sprint to a third-place finish.
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Fabian Cancellara withdrew from the Vuelta a Espana before Stage 18 to better prepare for this race.
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Fabian Cancellara outsprinted a leading ten-man group to take the honours.
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Fabian Cancellara's injuries prevented him from defending his Tour of Flanders title, thereby ending his spring classics campaign.
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Fabian Cancellara was involved in a mass pile-up on the third stage, and finished the race slowly.
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Fabian Cancellara restarted competition at the Vuelta a Espana, aiming to regain his form for the world championships.
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On 11 November 2015, having suffered a season rife with serious injuries and illness, Fabian Cancellara announced that he would retire at the end of the 2016 season.
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At the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Fabian Cancellara won his third Olympic medal, winning gold in the time trial, ahead of Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome.
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Fabian Cancellara raced his final professional road race, the Japan Cup criterium, on 22 October 2016.
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Fabian Cancellara was born to southern Italian parents, who lived in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland.
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Fabian Cancellara married his wife Stefanie in 2006, and later in the same year he became a father after Stefanie gave birth to a baby girl, whom they named Giuliana.