Unstoppable Cancellara Wins MSR---Flanders, Roubaix Next?

Fabian Cancellara must be considered the number one favorite for the remaining spring classics until another rider shows definitively that the Swiss time trialist can be beat. Cancellara won Milan-San Remo in convincing fashion by simply riding away from everyone on the Corso Cavallotti this Saturday. In an Eddy Merckx-like move, Cancellara jumped away from a small group with about 3 kilometers left in the race on Saturday, and no one could catch him as the CSC ace arrived, hands raised, in San Remo as the winner of Italy's biggest one day race.

Cancellara has grown from a time trialer to an all-arounder over the last few years

Cancellara has the rest of the peloton running scared, as the Swiss has been able to win on raw power and fearless tactics. His new nickname, "Tony Sparticus," is as appropriate as it is comical. There was, however, nothing funny about Cancellara's attack on the Corso Cavallotti Saturday that clinched the win for the 27 year old.

Time trialing as the Swiss champ two years ago

With Cancellara's two bigest targets (Flanders, Roubaix) yet to come for 2008, the time has come to consider whether he can put together a season with multiple classics victories on varied courses. Always a favorite on the cobbles, a win in Milan-San Remo went against all conventional thinking, as breakaway victories in the longest classic are extremely rare. That Cancellara was able to go away and stay away speaks to his enormous power and determination. He'll be a marked rider in Flanders and Roubaix, but it won't matter if he can hold the incredble form he has until the Flemish monuments.

He represents the raibow jersey well

If Cancellara manages to win either Flanders or Roubaix, his early season will go down as one of the best, if not the best, in the history of modern cycling. He has now won both major one day races in Italy (he won the Pachi Monte Eroica two weeks ago) and the first major Italian stage race of 2008 (Tirreno-Adriatico). He was within striking distance of overall victory in California, after having won the prologue and the first leader's jersey of the budding American stage race.

Cancellara rode for the mighty Mapei team in the 90's

Meanwhile, the rest of the peloton will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out how they'll manage to outfox and outride Cancellara, who looks positively unbeatable in every race he enters. Already his season has been an overwhelming success, and we're not even into April yet, which is a scary thought in itself. If he keeps going like this, a 20 win season with a few classic victories is very much within reach for the best time trialist in the world.