A year ago a stray bidon in a feed zone forced Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard) to the ground, breaking his collarbone in the process. Since then the Swiss Rider had seemed unable to rediscover his phenomenal best, at least until this season’s E3-Harelbeke where he rode straight off the front to solo home to a spectacular win in a repeat-performance of his awe-inspiring wins at Harelbeke, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

During Friday’s press conference Cancellara explained how he has been preparing for this year’s Tour of Flanders following his win at Harelbeke.

“I took some rest between my win in E3 and now. In Gent-Wevelgem I was still feeling tired and with the cold, the start being moved and full gas from the start – I was not really race ready at that point. I did 110 km and then went home to recover. I continued to train during the week and now back here in Belgium it looks like good weather. It’s still cold, but compared to Switzerland and compared to last week, it’s good. I’m looking forward to Sunday. I’ve been building up to this the past five months so it was good to go home and get some rest before returning to Belgium,” Cancellara was quoted on the RadioShack-Leopard website.

Evidently his win at Harelbeke has boosted Cancellara’s confidence ahead of Sunday’s big race. “I was very happy and satisfied with my win in E3. It was a strong performance that did well for my confidence but even more it gave me the will to get stronger from that. I also saw things that I needed to improve on for Sunday. There were names missing that day and others had some bad luck. So I use the details from that race to do better on Sunday. I expect it to be a hard race. We’ve seen week to week teams growing and getting better in preparation for this race. Certain teams will take the lead. We will play our cards. My victory in E3 was a huge boost of confidence for my team too. I believe in my team and we will be ready. I’ve won Flanders before so they trust me, too. I think within our team we have possibilities that people will not expect.”

Most people predict a showdown on Sunday between Cancellara and Peter Sagan (Cannondale). Speaking of his main adversary, Cancellara said he does not ride for second place. “Peter is a very young rider. I would have been very proud to win so many races at such a young age. A young rider has less stress; he has a calm mind. He’s won his classic and I’ve won mine so right now we’re one and one. I have my own weapons, my own skills that are strong. I am not racing for second place. In every race it’s important to read the race and I will know what I need to do.”

Despite all the attention surrounding Cancellara’s rivalry with Sagan, the Swiss rider was careful also to mention home crowd favourite Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) as a potential winner on Sunday. “Tom Boonen will also be ready. I know he’s had some sickness and injuries but he’s a past winner and the Belgian hero of this race. You need to be 100% and that’s the big pressure. I have seen that Tom’s team is growing and Tom will be up there. He will be strong. It’s one of his races and he will play his cards, too. [But] In the end I create my own pressure. I know what I want and my goal is to win the race. Sagan is another strong competitor but I never forget about Tom. He’s experienced in this race and you never know what is going to happen. I’m happy for cycling because these rivalries make cycling exciting. It’s a good sign. There is talk between me and Peter but there are other names from other teams who are also very strong and can perform well on Sunday too. I won’t forget that.”

Starting at 14.30 on Sunday you can follow the action from the Tour of Flanders live here on Cyclingquotes.com