By the time Fabian Cancellara had showered and changed aboard the Trek-Segafredo team bus after Gent-Wevelgem, 15 minutes of heavy post-race rain had abated and the leaden skies above West Flanders were briefly brightened by a rainbow.
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) had already answered that particular bat signal ahead of time, winning his first race in the rainbow jersey of world champion following a tense four-man sprint on Menenstraat. Cancellara, fourth across the line in a blanket finish, was not quite ready to take solace from a silver lining when he spoke to reporters.
“I’m definitely not happy with my fourth place. On the end, I didn’t have the legs or the power left to do the sprint that normally I’m used to doing,” said Cancellara, now wrapped in a red puffa jacket. “On the end, it is how it is. For sure, to arrive with four [riders] and then to take fourth is not funny and not nice, but that’s bike racing. I mean, you can do nothing.
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“I think on the end, I want to close the day, go home. Maybe I’ll see things a bit differently tomorrow. But the first impression is not the happiest. I mean, for sure it’s happy Easter day but it’s not happy Gent-Wevelgem day.”
Trek-Segafredo directeur sportif Dirk Demol later intimated that Cancellara had been suffering from cramps in the closing kilometres as he powered the winning move towards the finish in Wevelgem. The Swiss rider found himself manoeuvred onto the front in the final kilometre, and found no takers when he feigned opening his sprint from distance. He would have to settle for fourth behind Sagan, Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) and the surprising Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Katusha).
“But I’m happy in the end that I was always there at the front at the most important moments and the team was there,” Cancellara said. “I’m coming away without crashing here. With Gent-Wevelgem, I maybe have not the best love, because I’ve done it already many times but I never really came to the race with the determination of ‘I want to win.’”
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