Cancellara crushes time trial rivals to win cycling 3rd gold

Swiss ace Fabian Cancellara claimed his third career gold in the men's time trial after crushing his rivals at the world road race championships on Thursday.

Gustav Larsson of Sweden finished a distant second to take the silver medal while Germany's Tony Martin finished third to take the bronze.

Cancellara, who won the world title in both 2006 and 2007, averaged a speed of just over 51km/h for the 49.8km course which he completed in 57min 55sec.

Larsson clocked 59:22 with Martin stopping the clock over two minutes behind the Swiss.

Cancellara's third career gold in the race against the clock means he equals the record set by Austrlia's Michael Rogers, who won the world title three years in a row.

Ahead of his reported and audacious bid to focus most of his energies on claiming gold in the men's road race on Sunday, Cancellara ended any doubts surrounding his intentions on Thursday.

The 28-year-old Swiss started second last of the 66-strong field and one minute ahead of Germany's reigning champion Bert Grabsch.

However Grabsch never got the chance to see Cancellara's back wheel as the Swiss flew off the ramp and disappeared over the horizon at break neck speed.

Crowned Olympic champion in Beijing last year but deciding not to compete last year in Varese, Italy due to fatigue, by the first time check at 9.16km Cancellara had stamped his authority on the race.

He desposed Martin from provisional top spot by 18secs, and as the race continued in and around the small southern Swiss town he went on to humiliate a bunch of challengers who had started minutes before him.

At the second time check at 16.6 km Cancellara held a lead of 38sec on Martin and 46 on Larsson.

Britain's Bradley Wiggins had been confident of a medal, but by then he had dropped to over a minute behind Cancellara.

The Swiss showed no signs of tiring on the 16.6km circuit, raced three times, and after overtaking Larsson the Swede attempted in vain to keep pace.

At the 25.7km mark Cancellara was 1:17 faster than Martin, and shortly afterwards he humiliated Wiggins and Sebastien Rosseler, who had started two and four minutes ahead of him respectively, by overtaking the pair.

Wiggins then suffered disaster as he neared the end of the climb on the circuit, trying to fix an apparent problem with his front derailleur before getting off his bike and chucking it to the ground in disgust.

After Cancellara rode over the line in triumph savouring his first world title on home soil, Wiggins crossed over to finish way down in 20th place.