Cancellara: “I’m happy that is over. It was a very hard parcours that was not perfect for a specialist, but I said to myself that I needed to do my race at my own pace and just find the right rhythm for myself.” The 39km/24.2mi course in Tarazona featured a category 3 summit half way through route.
“The uphill section was very rough especially with the wind. That caused a lot of disruption of my rhythm,” said the Swiss rider. “Plus yesterday was the rest day so you never know how your body will respond on the day after and I’ve put in a lot of work in the first ten days of the Vuelta working for Chris Horner.” Horner rode the course in the red jersey as the race leader and was last on course. Not a specialist in the time trial, the American rider expected to lose time and the jersey, planning to take back the race lead in one of the six summit finishes still to come in the next ten days of racing. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) now holds the race lead.
Chris Horner: “I had a bee get in my mouth. I tried to swallow it but was finally able to cough it up, not that the bee made a real difference on my ride. I thought that I might lose the lead, so I will look to create another gap in the mountains and take the jersey again. It was what I expected, although of course I always hoped for more.” Horner now sits in fourth place at 46-seconds on the general classification.
An early best time was posted by current world time trial champion Tony Martin with a time of 51:37. Cancellara upped the game by stopping the clock at 51:00, more than half-a-minute faster than Martin. No one else came close to the top times and third place went to Domenico Pozzovivo at 1:24 off the winning time.
Earlier in the 2013 season Fabian Cancellara added more victories to his already admirable list of wins. Chalking up success in E3 Harelbeke and taking the Tour of Flanders for a second time, Cancellara also added a third cobblestone trophy from the prestigious Paris-Roubaix. He also holds four World Time Trial championships and a gold medal from the 2008 Olympic time trial, as well as numerous Swiss championships from his homeland. He also has spent more time in the yellow jersey of the Tour de France than anyone who has not actually won the race.
Cancellara returns to the Worlds in two weeks, hoping to earn more medals in the championships: “I know that I gave the maximum today. This was a good test for myself that had nothing to do with my competitors and more about seeing how I’m feeling. It was both uphill and then downhill and required a good workout. I’m happy with my performance. I think I got the best out of myself today.”
Stage 11 Brief Results:
- Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland / RadioShack) 51:00″
- Tony Martin (Germany / Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) +37″
- Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R) +1:24″
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Astana) +1:25″
- Dario Cataldo (Italy / Team Sky) +1:41″
- Nicolas Roche (Ireland / Saxo – Tinkoff) +1:48″
- Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar) +1:52″
- Jerome Coppel (France / Cofidis)
- Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia / Astana) +1:53″
- Samuel Sanchez (Spain / Euskaltel) +2:13″
General Classification After Stage 11:
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Astana) 41:22:22″
- Nicolas Roche (Ireland / Saxo – Tinkoff) +33″
- Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar) +46″
- Chris Horner (U.S. / RadioShack)
- Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain / Katusha) +2:33″
- Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R) +2:44″
- Ivan Basso (Italy / Cannondale) +2:55″
- Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ.fr) +3:35″
- Rafal Majka (Poland / Saxo – Tinkoff) +3:46″
- Daniel Moreno (Spain / Katusha) +3:56″
Ron Callahan is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.