Italian coach Aldo Sassi believes Swiss can be like Indurain
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Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) wears the yellow jersey at the 2009 Tour de France(Image credit: AFP)
A happy Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) (Image credit: www.ispaphoto.com)
A romantic moment between Fabian Cancellara and his coveted cobble trophy.(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Following Fabian Cancellara's double at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the question that many people are asking is: What other races can he win in cycling?
Cancellara has yet to confirm if he will target Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, but has stated he'd like to one day win all five of cycling's big Classics - the so-called 'Monuments' - and the Hour Record seems a natural goal for one of the best time triallists in the history of cycling.
However, Italian coach Aldo Sassi believes Cancellara could aim even higher, suggesting that Cancellara could be a Tour de France contender if he loses some muscle mass and further body fat.
As the coach of World Champion Cadel Evans and Ivan Basso, Sassi knows what it takes to identify and hone Grand Tour contenders. He was also the coach of the Mapei team that signed Cancellara to the Mapei development team in 2001, along with Filippo Pozzato, Michael Rogers, Dario Cioni, Charlie Wegelius and Bernhard Eisel.
"When we signed Fabian, we knew how talented he was because he'd already won two junior world time trial titles, but when we analysed his laboratory results, they convinced us of his huge potential," Sassi told Gazzetta dello Sport on Tuesday.
"For a rider like Fabian, raising the bar is not about going for the hour record, I'm convinced he can go for the major Tours. Perhaps not the Giro d'Italia, but the Tour de France for sure. We signed him to the Mapei development team with that goal in mind. We saw what he could do in time trials and we thought he'd could win short stage races and eventually become a rider for the major Tours."
Sassi reveals that he often teased Cancellara about his weight and diet, even when he was no longer at the Mapei team. And Cancellara has never forgotten Sassi's theory about him having the potential to win the Tour de France. He recently send a personal text message to Sassi, signing off as the rider who 'five kilos lighter could win the Tour.'
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Cancellara dreamed about winning the yellow jersey at the Tour de France as a boy and showed that he can win stage races last year by winning the Tour of Switzerland. Miguel Indurain's run of five Tour de France titles in the 1990s was also evidence that strong time trial ability can be the basis of a three-week win.
Sassi explained to Gazzetta dello Sport how Cancellara could become a Tour contender if he lost some of his muscle mass. He made a comparison with Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins, who has similar power outputs and became a Tour contender in 2009 after losing weight.
"For the Tour, he'd have to lose six kilograms, of which only two or three would be muscle, so that he doesn’t lose his power," Sassi said. "If he weighs about 70kg, like Wiggins does, I'm sure he'd be competitive. He'd be an Indurain type of rider."
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
