In a surprise twist to one of the big cycling stories of the past week or so, Fabian Cancellara has thrown down the gauntlet – or perhaps, mitt – to Phil Gaimon by inviting American ex-pro to try and beat him in a bike race.
In a message posted on Twitter this afternoon the Swiss rider, four time world time trial champion and three times victorious at both the Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix, invited Gaimon to join him on one of his Chasing Cancellara events next year.
The sportive rides see participants try to complete the course ahead of Cancellara – 10 managed to do so at the most recent event at Lugano in Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Canton Ticino.
Hi @philgaimon, I actually don’t know you, but I kindly invite you to beat me at one of my 8 #ChasingCancellara races, by next year 2018. You choose the @chasecancellara -date out of 5 countries. I am very curious to see how much watt you can push!Start training!#nomotorneeded pic.twitter.com/cxNzKaCG4Q
— Fabian cancellara (@f_cancellara) November 17, 2017
Cancellara – who like Gaimon, retired in 2016 – issued the invitation this afternoon following a week in which lawyers acting for him had demanded that the American’s new book, Draft Animals, be withdrawn due to a passage regarding motor doping.
Gaimon, for his part, has said that his comments, widely reported in the specialist cycling media and beyond, were taken out of context.
> Phil Gaimon responds on Fabian Cancellara ‘motor doping’ row
The venues for next year’s Chasing Cancellara series haven’t been released yet, with registration opening on 12 December.
A shrewd choice of location could serve Gaimon well, however – he is, after all, the reigning US national hill climb champion, and in retirement has become something of a serial bagger of Strava KOMs.
Should he accept the challenge, he may have to lay off the cookies for a while, though.
> Review: Draft Animals – Living the Pro Cycling Dream (Once in a While)
-1024x680.jpg "“Clear anti-cyclist bias”: Lawsuit filed against Toronto police after cop doored cyclist… before ticketing rider over incident")
20 thoughts on “Fabian Cancellara throws down the gauntlet to Phil Gaimon – by inviting him for a race”
Ha, what a twist, Fab is a
Ha, what a twist, Fab is a legend afterall. Bring it on I say, I would watch. His results over many years prove he is a champion. Phil can’t strip his brakes off for this one.
Oh and how can an exact quote from his book be ‘out of context’? Pathetic cheap comments designed to sell books.
Leviathan wrote:
I have note read the book or followed the issue but here is how to take an exact quote out of context:
The book says “Many say that Cancellara cheated, that is obviously crap” and here is a direct quote taken out of context “Cancellara cheated”.
Bit of a dickhead move by FC
Bit of a dickhead move by FC if I’m honest, don’t understand what a race would prove other than him being able to say, well you didn’t race me you’re wrong as a 12yr old would.
Oreos wrote:
Allow me to clear things up. This appears to be an olive branch by FC to PG. By offering him hospitality, FC hopes to show he can be the bigger man, that there are no hard feelings, and that he is not or no longer pursuing PG legally, and therefore moving beyond the initial offence he felt in being openly accused of cheating.
I think he is being the bigger man too. I hope that PG accepts and shows he is a big man too.
Sounds fair to me. It’s the
Sounds fair to me. It’s the other guy acting like a knob here. Not Cancellara.
Seems a bit counterproductive
Seems a bit counterproductive – if Cancellara beats him Gaimon can just say it is because he was using a motor…
It would be a cool race, but
It would be a cool race, but it wont prove anything as Phil never said Fabian raced any other races than the 2010 Paris-Roubaix and Flanders with a motor! It’s just the same with the mechanic story, ofcourse he says Fabian didn’t use a motor, like he would say it even if he knew!
Am I sure he did use a motor, no, and I hope trully hope he didn’t, however there are some weird things that happend those days!
Changing bikes 3 times a race, without having a flat tire!
Just blasting away from an already very fast group in Roubaix, with the same cadance and not even breaking a sweat, or that’s what it looks like at least. https://youtu.be/8Nd13ARuvVE?t=213
Al the other points already have been said so much that i’m not going to repeat them anymore!
So I trully hope he didn’t use a motor, but if he did use one it’s not really fair for Tom Boonen and Björn Leukemans. Just think about it what would u think if u lost against someone with a motor?!
But we will probably never know if he did or didn’t use a motor, the evidence is already gone!
KoenM wrote:
Are you looking at the same video? FC’s cadence is clearly higher than the group he breaks from.
All this internet-binary damned if you do/don’t stuff is such boring BS. The tweet was a nice tongue in cheek call out. If Gaimon took him up, even better.
Sounds a bit like Bobby Riggs
Sounds a bit like Bobby Riggs’ challenge to Billie Jean King. Who’ll play which role? And remember who won.
This Gaimon bloke sounds like
This Gaimon bloke sounds like a right johhnyhandjob – a 2nd rate bike rider who is after some free publicity for a book that no one will read- I hope Cancellara kicks his arse big time
simonb wrote:
You literally have no idea what you’re talking about – and neither do the other people who’ve weighed in with their internet outrage. Phil Gaimon’s books are self deprecating, often tongue in cheek and generally pretty funny. It was a throw away comment as he’s already said and something that many have said since the races in question, whike probably not really believing it themselves.
It wasnt him.who forced the story on us, someone picked up on a minor detail in a book and blew it massively out of proportion. That’s it. Chill.
StoopidUserName wrote:
This Gaimon bloke sounds like a right johhnyhandjob – a 2nd rate bike rider who is after some free publicity for a book that no one will read- I hope Cancellara kicks his arse big time
— StoopidUserName You literally have no idea what you’re talking about – and neither do the other people who’ve weighed in with their internet outrage. Phil Gaimon’s books are self deprecating, often tongue in cheek and generally pretty funny. It was a throw away comment as he’s already said and something that many have said since the races in question, whike probably not really believing it themselves. It wasnt him.who forced the story on us, someone picked up on a minor detail in a book and blew it massively out of proportion. That’s it. Chill.— simonb
I literally can’t see the actual relationship between a race in actual 2017 to illustrate a point about something from 2010.
StoopidUserName wrote:
This Gaimon bloke sounds like a right johhnyhandjob – a 2nd rate bike rider who is after some free publicity for a book that no one will read- I hope Cancellara kicks his arse big time
— StoopidUserName You literally have no idea what you’re talking about – and neither do the other people who’ve weighed in with their internet outrage. Phil Gaimon’s books are self deprecating, often tongue in cheek and generally pretty funny. It was a throw away comment as he’s already said and something that many have said since the races in question, whike probably not really believing it themselves. It wasnt him.who forced the story on us, someone picked up on a minor detail in a book and blew it massively out of proportion. That’s it. Chill.— simonb
Exactly this. If you’re upset abput Phil Gaimon having a laugh, go and read Wiggins’ book about how he never used any needles.
No contest here: one of these
No contest here: one of these is an actual top-class racer, and the other one couldn’t hack it so has to settle for Strava KOMs.
Helmut D. Bate wrote:
I happen to like both of them, and Cancellara is a beast, but I wouldn’t bet on him up something like Mt. Washington. Horses for wotsits and all that.
classic wresting promo move –
classic wresting promo move – I hope they race in luchador masks!
To all but the hard of
To all but the hard of thinking (and there’s a few dullards here including the first poster to respond) this is a cheap pathetic move by FC. If Gaimon had said, FC is a cheat and I’m a better bike rider then the gauntlet throw down would be acceptable, except this isn’t the case at all and FC knows with a certain amount of confidence that he is the stronger/better bike rider.
It’s a bit like Usain Bolt laying down a challenge to a guy who once or twice ran a low 10, got through a few rounds at a big event that one time/won a couple of lower grade B races but was mostly a 10.2 guy.
That’s not disrespecting Gaimon but that is his level, a decent hill climber who has mainly raced at the lower levels so for FC to offer him out on the road is lame as fuck.
Do I think FC cheated, given what I saw, yes I do, do I have actual hard evidence, no, but then that’s pretty much what PG has said, he’s given an opinion based on the rumours/what’s being said by loads for years including other competition cyclists.
The oracle, you’re my legend
The oracle, you’re my legend BTBS
A little offbeat, but fair
A little offbeat, but fair play to Cancellara for calling off the dogs.
That’s a pretty cheap-looking
That’s a pretty cheap-looking Chasing Cancellara logo.