Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) is the 2006 world time trial champion. The Swiss rider dominated the 50.83-km event in Salzburg, Austria, leading at every checkpoint en route to victory in 1:00:11. David Zabriskie (United States), Cancellara’s teammate on CSC, finished second at 1:29, and Vuelta a Espana winner Alexander Vinokourov (Kazakhstan) took third at 1:49.
Svein Tuft (Canada) took the early lead with a 1:04:57, but no one expected that time to be good for a medal. And so it wasn’t. Brian Bach Vandborg (Denmark) outdid Tuft with a 1:02:04.
Vandborg’s time remained the time to beat for an hour. Zabriskie, however, took the lead with a 1:01:41. His time looked like a possible winner, particularly after Vinokourov fell 0:23 short of it. Cancellara, however, was still on the course, and he was the fastest man at each checkpoint. The Swiss shattered the Kazakh’s time. Three-time defending champion Michael Rogers (Australia) was still on the course, but the Aussie lacked winning form and settled for eighth at 2:31.
This season has been a breakthrough campaign for a rider of whom much has been expected. In April, Cancellara won Paris-Roubaix. He has since won his fourth Swiss time trial championship, the Tour of Denmark, and the world time trial championship. On Sunday, will Cancellara add the world road race championship to his palmares? Check in at http://www.roadcycling.com/ and find out!
