Cancellara will take a pass on remaining classics
Fabian Cancellara, winner of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, has pulled out of Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, saying he won't compete again until next month's Amgen Tour of California.
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Fabian Cancellara, winner of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, has pulled out of Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, saying he won’t compete again until next month’s Amgen Tour of California.
Cancellara’s decision came after Saxo Bank team director Bjarne Riis had publicly expressed hope that the Swiss national champion would continue his classics campaign all the way through Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
“Fabian is on the form of his life and I think he should race at Amstel and Liège,” Riis said after Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. “I think he could win Liège.”
Cancellara, however, said riding – and winning – two tough cobbled races over the course of a week has left him in need of rest.
“I’ve given 100 percent to land these two memorable wins and I appreciate I can’t repeat that form in the upcoming classics,” Cancellara said. “Quite simply, I’m tired.”
Cancellera will use the May 16-23 Tour of California as part of his warm-up for the Tour de France.