Fabian Cancellara seals third E3 Prijs Vlaanderen title with stunning solo success

Fabian Cancellara celebrated a fine solo victory

The RadioShack-Leopard rider proved he was back to his best after an injury-ravaged 12 months by riding the likes of Tom Boonen, Geraint Thomas and Peter Sagan off his wheel on the famous Oude Kwaremont climb, before time-trialling to his third victory in this race in the space of four years.

The result couldn't have been better timed for the 32-year-old, who is aiming to repeat his 2010 Tour of Flanders/Paris-Roubaix double in the weeks to come, while also reclaiming his mantle as the world's best Classics rider.

The action had taken place in dry but chilly conditions and Cancellara had been present in all the day's main moves once an early break had been reeled back in with around 100km to go.

He was there when Boonen (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) instigated an eight-man break on the Taaienberg, and remained towards the head of affairs after Cannondale had chased hard to bring Sagan back into contention.

Boonen led a select front group on to the Kwaremont, but could only look on as Cancellara produced one of his characteristic attacks and never looked back as he pressed on brilliantly to take his victory by a 1min 8sec margin.

Sagan misses out

Thomas and Sagan were both present in a five-man move who had given a futile chase behind, with Sagan denying the Team Sky man a place on the podium after hauling back a late move from Daniel Oss and pipping the BMC rider on the line.

The day belonged to Cancellara, though, and after the race he said: "I did my job, I did what I had to do. When you are in good condition you have to go for it because you never know what will happen next. It is important to carry on and finish the job.

"With the crash last year, this is a very special moment for me. It was intuition to go on the Oude Kwaremont and just see if I could break down the group a little more.

"You have to take the chance when you can as you never know what tomorrow brings. I saw that there were many Omega Pharma - Quick-Step riders in the front, so I decided to try something. I went alone and Dirk Demol kept telling me 'keep on going'. It was a so hard, but such a unique experience.

"Many things crossed my mind. This is a great win for me and for the team. Anything that will come now is a bonus."

Result

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Leopard, 5:08.28
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale, +1.08
3 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC, same time
4 Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky, st
5 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica-GreenEDGE, st
6 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, st
7 Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, +2.15
8 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha, st
9 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky, st
10 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Europcar, st