Fabian Cancellara claims his fourth World Championship time-trial title

Fabian Cancellara claimed a record breaking fourth World Championship Time-Trial title in Geelong.

The Swiss rider, who has been almost unbeatable this year, crossed the line over a minute ahead of second place man David Millar with a time of 58 minutes 09 seconds. He had a wobble that nearly sent him off his bike at the bridge that had caught so many people out, but in his smooth style he corrected it was went on to win. Cancellara left it late to make his decision to go to the World Championships after he suffered a shock loss to Peter Velits during the Vuelta a Espana. It could have been his fifth title but he decided to skip the 2008 championships after winning the Olympic time-trial.

ToB: Borut Bozic beats Greg Henderson to give Vacansoleil second victory

Borut Bozic finally managed to take victory ahead of Greg Henderson in stage 7 of the Tour of Britain.

Bozic has been the bridesmaid on a couple of occasions this year, but this time the Vacansoleil rider had the legs on the Kiwi in Colchester on the uphill finish. However, the pair were a full three seconds ahead of third place man Richie Porte. The win now puts him just over a minute behind race leader Michael Albasini who has been suffering from illness for the past few days.

The Slovenian’s victory added to Wouter Poels’ on Tuesday means Vacansoleil now sit at the top of the team classification 6’15 ahead of Sky Pro Cycling. He will hope that the departure of his teammate Pim Lighart will not hamper his hopes of staying on the podium and possibly winning the yellow jersey on the final stage.

ToB: Andre Greipel takes another victory in stage 6 of the Tour of Britain

Andre Greipel won his second sprint finish in Stage six of this year’s Tour of Britain in Great Yarmouth.

The German had too much pace for Borut Bozic and went on to claim his 20^th victory of the season. If he hadn’t had Mark Cavendish as a teammate this man would surely have a few Grand Tour victories under his belt this season.

Greipel also won the opening stage from Rochdale to Blackpool beating Manuel Belletti to the line. The victory was also the second today for his team, fellow sprinter Mark Cavendish won his third stage in la Vuelta a Espana.

Mayer Makes the Brake

Cameron Mayer from Garmin-Transitions made a brave attempt for a victory today and it looked like he could do it. He launched an escape with Jeremy Hunt initially but the Cervelo ride was soon dropped and Jaroslav Marycz joined Mayer. The two managed to build up a big lead of seven minutes assisted by a tail wind most of the way, but the Aussie launched an attack and lost his Saxo Bank companion.

VaE: Mark Cavendish beat JJ Haedo to his third victory in La Vuelta

Mark Cavendish took his third victory just ahead of JJ Haedo in a sprint in stage 18 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana.

The Manxman had a good start to the tour winning the team time-trial, but he went through a brief barren patch during the first week. He took his first victory back in stage 12 and he’s won every sprint since then. The 25-year-old has extended his lead in the green jersey competition and it looks likely that he will wear it in Madrid.

It has been a good day for the HTC Columbia team who took a sprint victory in the guise of Andre Greipel in stage five of the Tour of Britain.

TOB: Wouter Poels take victory in stage four but Albasini keeps the lead

Wouter Poels launched an attack on the final climb of the day to beat teammate Borut Bozic and win stage four of the Tour of Britain amid panic for the organisers.

The Dutchman survived the early attacks made on the group to ride away from his teammate Bozic by five seconds. The win added to the news he’d received the day before that he would be part of the team going to the World Championships after Laurens Ten Dam crashed in the Vuelta.

Stage four took riders from Minehead to Teignmouth and was billed as the Queen stage of this year’s tour. It proved to be too difficult for most of the field who couldn’t keep up with the pace set by the front group.