This will be my second Chasing legends challenge!!
Cycling loves its history. The Grand Tours of Italy, France and Spain are some of the oldest races, and are the most prestigious. But there are one day races that are older, and for some riders mean even more to win.
There are the 5 monuments!
Milan - San Remo (the sprinters classic)
Tour of Flanders (cobbles)
Paris - Roubaix (the hell of the north)
Liege - Bastogne - Liege (la doyenne)
Giro il Lombardia (the climbers classic)
Only three riders have ever won all 5, and never in the same season.
Eddy Merckx, Roger de Vlaeminck and Rik van Looy
Fabian Cancellara has won Milan - San Remo, Tour of Flanders and Paris - Roubaix.
Now he takes on the ultimate challenge, to win all 5 monuments in 1 season.
To do this he will have to climb, sprint and cobble. He will have to be better than the best.
Fabian Cancellara
Spoiler
Fabian was born 18th March 1981, in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland.
He won the Junior World Championships Time Trial in 1998 and 1999.
He came 2nd in the U23 WCITT aged 19, in 2000
He rode for Mapei-QuickStep in 2001 and 2002
In 2003 he moved to Fassa Bortolo
Here he won the prologues of Suisse and Romandie
In 2004 he came 4th in Paris-Roubaix
Then he won the prologue of the Tour de France
In 2005 he won a stage of Paris-Nice
He finished 8th in Roubaix
He ended the year 3rd at the WCITT
For 2006 he moved to CSC
He won Roubaix in dominating fashion
He also became World TT Champion
In 2007 he took the TDF Prologue
Then he won stage 3
At the end of the season he won the WCITT again
2008 saw him win MSR
He then came 2nd to Boonen in Roubaix
He took Bronze in the Olympic RR
He won the Gold in the TT
In 2009 he won the TDF Stage 1
He also won his 3rd WCITT
In 2010 he won the E3, Ronde and Roubaix
He won both TDF TT
He won a record 4th WCITT
In 2011 he won E3 again
He finished 2nd in Ronde and 3rd in Roubaix
In 2010 after winning the E3, Ronde and Roubaix, and having won MSR in 2008 Fabian said that his future goals included winning LBL and il Lombardia.
Calendar
Not confirmed but will be close to this
Omloop
K-B-K
Friuli
Bianche
Tirreno-Adriatico MSR
Dwars dor Vlanderen
E3 Prijs
Gent-Wevelgem
KBC Dreidgasse RVV Paris-Roubiax
Amstel Gold
Fleche L-B-L
Dauphine
NC ITT
NC RR
Tour de France
Pologne
Eneco
Montreal
Quebec
WC ITT
WC RR
Beijing LombardiaEdited by TheManxMissile on 31-07-2012 20:08
Sagan cant win PR , at least not this year nor the next one , so i voted for Cancellara . It will be difficult in LBL , but at least he has a good team to help him . U play in Career Mode right ?
alex valceanu wrote:
Sagan cant win PR , at least not this year nor the next one , so i voted for Cancellara . It will be difficult in LBL , but at least he has a good team to help him . U play in Career Mode right ?
Yes he will as it says in one season otherwise it would be pretty easy and the challenge of getting high form in these races is also pretty interesting.
alex valceanu wrote:
Sagan cant win PR , at least not this year nor the next one , so i voted for Cancellara . It will be difficult in LBL , but at least he has a good team to help him . U play in Career Mode right ?
Yes he will as it says in one season otherwise it would be pretty easy and the challenge of getting high form in these races is also pretty interesting.
It will be carrer mode whoever it is
Cancellara, only issue is l-b-l (my favorite)
Sagan, only issue is p-r
Gilbert, only issue is p-r
I know i can get great form for all the races, but not all 5 in one season
Side note;
I've won MSR 7 or 8 times, solo, so that should be fine
I've played RVV once, and it went horribly
Won Roubaix 5-6times solo, so that should be fine
Won LBL twice, but with gilbert and cunego so ...
Never played Lombardia
La Classica di Primavera is the first of the monuments. It is the longest professional one-day race on the calendar at 298km. The first race took place in 1907, and was won by Lucien Petit-Breton. The race is often refered to as The Sprinters Classic.
History
The race began with only one climb, the Passo del Turchino. As cyclists improved this wasn't decisive enough. In 1960 the Poggio was introduced. In 1982 the Cipressa was included. In 2008 Le Manie was added. The climbs are short and not massivly steep, meaning that a strong sprinter should win the race.
Winners and Records
The fastest race was in 1990. Giani Bugno won in 6h25m6s.
The slowest race was in 1910, at 12h24m, in a snowstorm.
Eddy Merckx holds the record with 7 wins.
Matt Goss won the 2011 race.
The Ronde van Vlaanderen is the second of the monuments. Its now the third of the WT Cobbled classics. One week before Paris - Roubaix this is a key race for the Classic Riders. Also known as Vlaanderens Mooiste.
History
It was first run in 1913, and won by Paul Deman. Before WW2 it was run on the same day as Milan - San Remo. After WW2 it became part of the Challenge Desgrange-Colombo. As Belgium cycling was in decline the Ronde became a symbol of hope. From its humble beginings, the Ronde is now one of the biggest spectator races in the world, with over 500,000 people a year watching on the roads. For 2012 the race takes a new route, encouraging attacks and is supposed to keep the race alive in the finale.
Winners and Records
The fastest race was in 2001, when Gianluca Borotlami won at 43.6kmh
4 men share the record for most victories, Fiorenzo Magni, Achiel Buysse, Eric Leman and Johan Museeuw have won the race 3 times.
Nick Nuyens won the 2011 race.
The Hell of the North is the third monument. First run in 1896 it is one of the oldest races. That first race was won by Josef Fischer. The race is famous for its rough cobbles, and flat route. This is The Queen of the Classics.
History
Frankly i cant even scratch the surface of this race's history, but ill do my best.
Each year there is a place where the race is won or lost, the most promenent of which is Doullens Hill, Arras, Carvin and Wattignies Bend. There are 27 cobbled sections, totaling over 51km. The race is also famous for its finish in the Roubaix Velodome. There have always been stories and controversies around the race, the most recent were the Train of 2006 and the alleged motor in Fabians bike.
Winners and Records
The fastest race was in 1964, won by Peter Post, at a speed of 45.1kmh
The slowest race was in 1919, won by Henri Pelissier, in 12h15m
Roger de Vlaeminck, Mr Roubaix, has won a record 4 times.
Johan Vansummeren won the 2011 race.
quick update
rest of the race intros will go up tomorrow and sunday (at olympic rr saturday)
an interview with Fabian will go up sunday, along with his fitness schedule
racing will commence monday, and should conclude on friday (5 races, 5 days)
i will update with RSNT major results, wt top 5's and how Fabians rivals are faring
This has great potential (and thankfully so does Fabian )
It's funny because just last night I was randomly trying to recall whether Fabian said he wanted to win the 5 monuments in one season once... I had a feeling he did but nothing ever seemed to come of it.
Well he's certainly cleared his intentions up for us now anyway
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
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