Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Leopard) is back! Today he won his third victory in the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen in stunning solo fashion to take his first win since his crash in last year's Olympic road race.

Fabian Cancellara has struggled to get back to his former level since a crash ruined a golden opportunity for an Olympic gold medal last summer. If anyone had any doubts whether he would ever return to his former strength, his showing in today's E3 Prijs Vlaanderen puts those firmly to rest.

The quadruple world time trial champion made use of his favourite helling in the Flemish Ardennes, the long, cobbled Oude Kwaremont, with 30 km remaining to put his companions in an 8-man front group under pressure, and no one was able to follow the fabulous Swiss. He immediately opened up a big gap and went into time trial mode to power all the way to the finish.

Behind a chase group of 5 of the strongest classics specialists failed to close down the gap. The combined forces of Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Sebastian Langeveld (Orica-GreenEdge), Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Daniel Oss (BMC) and Geraint Thomas (Sky) were not enough to stop Spartacus from soloing away to a solo finish.

The chase group fought valiantly to get back on, and especially Sagan and Chavanel took huge turns on the front. At some point, it seemed that they were about to close the gap, but the Swiss had an extra gear, and he quashed the hopes of his rivals with a further acceleration.

In the end, the group had to fight it out for 2nd place. Oss put in a strong attack under the flamme rouge, but Thomas almost caught back up with Sagan on his wheel. The Slovakian opened his furious sprint, and in a tight foto finish he beat his former Italian teammate on the line to take second. With that second place, the Slovakian takes over the lead on the world ranking.

Further behind a larger peloton containing a number of disillusioned favourites failed to get back in contention. The likes of Tom Boonen, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Luca Paolini ended up fighting it out for 7th place, but all had undoubtedly hoped to be much further up the road.

They all get a chance for revenge on Sunday when the classics specialists mix it up with the sprinters to battle for the trophy in Gent-Wevelgem.

The early break goes clear

With a 209 km course containing 15 short, steep climbs, the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen is known as the mini Tour of Flanders. It has traditionally been the ideal preparation race for the biggest battle on Flemish soil, and the classics specialists all try to dig deep one last time ahead of their major objective.

As usual, the race had a frantic start. Attacks went thick and fast, and it took some time before the days early break was created. Anders Lund (Saxo-Tinkoff), Eloy Teruel (Movistar), Koen Barbe (Crelan-Euphony), Ruslan Tleubayev (Astana), Stefan Van Dijk (Accent.jobs-Wanty) and Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil) managed to build up a gap, and the peloton calmed down after the hectic opening phase.

The gap was never allowed to increase much, and it reached a maximum of around the 4 minute mark. Omega Pharma-Quick Step put Iljo Keisse on the front, and he was joined by Gabriel Rasch from Team Sky. The dup shared the chasing duties and kept the break under control.

A fierce battle for position

As the race entered the final 90 km, the battle for position started for real. Most of the favourites were seen near the front where Omega Pharma-Quick Step were especially prominent with their complete roster.

The break's advantage started to crumble fast. Tleubayev was picked up as the first one, Mol an Van Dijk followed moments later, and Lund, Teruel and Barbe - who had been joined by Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ) - were caught on the approach to the important Taaienberg climb.

Taaienberg is Boonen's favourite climb, and it was no surprise to see Omega Pharma-Quick Step string out the peloton to put their captain into a good position. As soon as they hit the lower slopes, the Belgian champion powered clear with Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol) in his wheel.

At the top, a group consisting of Boonen, Roelandts, Cancellara, Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Mathew Hayman (Sky), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), Daniel Oss (BMC), Sep Vanmarcke (Blanco) was created. Vanmarcke was soon dropped, but was replaced by Langeveld, Vincent Jerome (Europcar), Stijn Vandenbergh and Lars Boom (Blanco).

Cannondale closes the gap

The 11-man group cooperated well to try to keep the chase at bay. Sagan had, however, missed the move and so asked his teammates Fabio Sabatini, Kristijan Koren and Elia Viviani to close the gap. Vladimir Gusev chipped in for Katusha, and a frantic chase effort ensued. With around 40 km remaining, the front group was caught.

Just as the junction was made, the peloton hit a stretch with strong crosswinds. The group splintered into multiple pieces. In the new front group, the original 11-man break - except Boom - were joined by Michal Kwiatkowski and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Sagan and Thomas.

As they hit the steep slopes of the Paterberg, Boonen once again accelerated. That put a number of riders into troubles, but gradually they regrouped and were even joined by Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil) and Andrey Amador (Movistar).

Cancellara goes on the attack

The next crucial point was the Kwaremont. The climb is perfectly suited to Cancellara's characteristics, and he put in a fierce acceleration. Sagan and Langeveld tried desperately to close the gap, but they failed in their attempt. Behind, Boonen - who had looked strong up until that point - struggled while Roelandts had a puncture and lost all hopes.

At the top, Cancellara had almost 30 seconds on a strong chase group consisting of Chavanel, Sagan, Oss, Langeveld, Thomas, Vandenbergh and Stybar was created. Boasson Hagen tried desperately to get back up, but after a frantic chase he had to give up.

The chase fails to make any inroads

Vandenbergh and Stybar dropped off the front in strange circumstances to leave just 5 riders chasing Cancellara. They tried their best to get back on, but the Swiss time triallist opened up his gap consistently. It soon reached the 1 minute mark, and even though the group got glimpses of hope on the two remaining climbs where they managed to reduced the advantage slightly, Cancellara was always in control.

Behind, the remnants of the 14-man break were picked up by a larger peloton, and even though IAM tried to chase, they never had any chance to get back in contention. Cancelleara soloed to another impressive solo victory - his third in the race - while Sagan beat Oss on the line to fill out the remaining podium places.

Hayman gave Boasson Hagen a perfect lead-out in the sprint for 7th, but the Norwegian was beaten to the line by Boonen and Paolini.

Result

1. Fabian Cancellara

2. Peter Sagan

3. Daniel Oss

4. Geraint Thomas

5. Sebastian Langeveld

6. Sylvain Chavanel

7. Tom Boonen

8. Luca Paolini

9. Edvald Boasson Hagen

10. Sebastien Turgot