Fabian Cancellara will ride his final race as a professional athlete at the Japan Cup on Sunday, bringing down the curtain on a 16-year carer that included three victories at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, seven stages of the Tour de France and 29 days in the maillot jaune, four world time trial titles and two Olympic gold medals in the time trial. His second gold came this year at the Rio Olympic Games, offering him a final emotional moment of success and a perfect way to bow out from the sport.
Cancellara has not raced since Rio but will pin a number on his jersey for the last time on Sunday in Japan. On Tuesday he was given a special award at the UCI Gala in Abu Dhabi in recognition of his gold medal in Rio and his successful career. He also gave an exclusive interview to Cyclingnews, revealing the emotions of ending his racing career and his plans to build a new career and life without the demands of professional sport.
Cyclingnews: You announced your retirement early and raced a lot during your final season but now the moment is almost here. How do you feel?
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Fabian Cancellara: Since the Olympics, I'm already over. I'm done. I already somewhat feel like an ex-rider but I'm sure on Sunday it'll be emotional and another ending, too.
The truth is that I'm only officially an ex-rider when I've finished with my whereabouts notifications for anti-doping controls. That's when you're not a rider anymore.
For me the Olympics were the culmination, the ending of it all on a high. After the emotions of winning the gold medal in the time trial, I wanted to announce and talk about ending my career right then but you can't do everything at once. So I've taken it step by step in recent weeks and months. But it's special because its still feels like a big thing.
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