Cancellara

Cancellara is surely a candidate for the best cyclist in the world at the moment. The Swiss machine has, in the past few years, been the undisputed king of the time trial. I direct anyone who refutes this to the tour's TTT a couple of years ago. Every time we were shown the Saxobank squad, they were being led out by the guy in yellow. You could probably say that he rode that race as if it were an individual event. In the face of Astana's might, Garmin Slipstream's lineup of specialist time-trialists, and of course, the phenomenal Columbia HTC, Cancellara held his ground. In style to honour his (nick)namesake, he fought against impossible odds and came out still in that iconic maillot jaune. Nutcase.

Then, in the Spring, he showed that he'd learnt to ride the classics. The climbs of Flanders fell before his power (1450W climbing in the saddle), and he skimmed over the cobbles of Roubaix at over 50km/h. He won both in a week. Nutcase.

It seems, though, that the cynics have done the same to him as they did to the other cyclist to dominate this century, Armstrong. They will not accept that hard work and dedication are enough to win. With Armstrong, they pointed the finger at drugs, forgetting that he is the most tested athlete this side of planet Zogg. And every test comes back negative. So what new weapon can they yield to discredit Sparticus? An engine... Right... are they serious? They point to videos of him pushing something on his gear changer as he attacks, saying it must be a button that operates an electric motor. But let me ask, what do you do when you speed up on a bike? Do you just make your legs go like the washer on its final spin, or do you change gear? And do you change gear by telepathy, or by pushing something on your gear changer?

When will we be able to look at a great sportsman and allow him or her to be just that - great? When will we stop looking at them with jealousy, and trying to come up with some scheme to discredit them?

Cancellara laughed at the accusations. Haven't his prosecutors noticed that he attacked 50km from the line at Robaix, and never slowed down? That's not a battery. And haven't they noticed that he is the best bike handler in the TTs, never lifting from that super-aero tuck that he also does better than anyone else? There is one engine on that bike. It's not hidden under the saddle; it's the bloke on the saddle, the one with thighs like artillery shells.

He might not have won the classics this year, but that doesn't mean he wasn't clearly the strongest rider in the peloton. Did you see what happened when he started to chase through the chasm that had opened between the leader and his group. The chasm damn near closed. And in the Amstel Gold race, when Frank Shleck decided to do his usual trick of falling off, and this time took Spartacus with him, did anyone notice the speed, skill and assurance that Cancellara showed in - well, normally I'd say "fighting" his way back to the peloton, but I think that "hurtling effortlessly" is more accurate. He made the cars look like they were stationary and had all the accuracy of Valentino Rossi in clipping apexes and finding gaps.

In short, the guy can ride a bike.