Today at Casa Fondue, it is a Day of Great Thanksgiving and Celebration for it is the birthday of the Red Hammer, the Swiss Time Machine, Spartacus himself, Fabian Cancellara. Disappointed that he didn’t win Milan-San Remo yesterday but coming in second on a storming ride ain’t half bad. I had tons of ideas of how to construct this little birthday billet-doux and then I thought, let’s just watch him … so here are some of my favourite video clips of the mighty Cancellara.
Let us begin …
When I’m on the bike I’m a gladiator. I want to kill my opponents, physically and mentally. When you see that you can kill them, you have to do so.
We’ll drink a beer afterwards, but the race is a battle against all. When I attacked in Flanders, or in Paris-Roubaix with 50 kilometres to go, I wanted to show them that they were riding for second place.
(Quote from Cyclesport magazine)
Strade Bianche 2012: He makes his trademark move, no one can stay on his wheel, he rides away … race over.
Fabian shows that he’s a bit of a linguist … not just Swiss-German and English, but French, Italian, Flemish… and of course Fabianese. (Don’t worry – the interview is in English, even if the intro isn’t … )
The man flies down a descent, absolutely fearless, on this chase back to the peloton in the Tour de France a few years ago. Watch for how he ducks to avoid an overhang and then nonchalantly takes a little snack out of his back pocket – at speed – and eats it, still on the descent, just before he reconnects with the peloton.
When I’m on, I’m really Swiss. Everything in its place.
(Quote from Cyclesport magazine)
This is a great film from Specialized (who make great films all the time). Fabian talks about glory, about the Classics, about riding through the Arenberg “alone. Alone.”
And finally, what I reckon must be the perfect job – holding the haunches of Cancellara as he warms up for an ITT.
Happy birthday, Fabu. The fireworks extravaganza starts at 9pm …
I was thinking of you yesterday as i stood, squashed behind the barricades, only centimetres from your fabulous Fabian as he waited to go up onto the podium. Actually, I was thinking that those 6 foot high barriers probably wouldn’t have held you back!
I suspect an army of 20-stone bouncers wouldn’t have been able to hold Kitty back … 🙂
It’s amazing what strength and speed adrenalin can generate in a gal when she gets near to her Beloved. I’m in intensive training for the Olympics – when I see him, I’m going to run, jump and catapult myself at him! Ha ha!
Run, jump and catapult – is that some new version of the heptathlon? 😉
It’s an athletic event specially designed for the Cancellara-obsessed …
Kitty
It’s good that you’re in training for what I fear is going to be a hotly contested event if the comments on the our blog, facebook and twitter account are anything to go by.
I think he descends so quickly because of the weight of his huge brass balls.
That made me laugh out loud, right here in the office, on Monday morning. Nothin’ but love for ya, Paul! You’ve made my day!