Cycling
Fabian Cancellara: From Tour hero to team boss
Fabian Cancellara achieved everything there was to achieve as a rider – now he's returning to the Tour de France with Tudor Pro Cycling.
When Fabian Cancellara retired in 2016, he did so in a way most athletes can only dream of – at the very top. He'd just won his second Olympic time trial gold medal, and for more than 15 years had been one of cycling's biggest stars and one of Switzerland's best-known sportsmen, never one to shy away from the spotlight. Then, suddenly, he disappeared.
Those who knew him wondered how he would cope with no longer being in constant demand. It's one of the biggest questions in sport: what comes after retirement? Cancellara embraced the unknown with remarkable calm. He made two promises to himself: to take his time, and to do something that would help Swiss cycling.
Fabian Cancellara was one of cycling's biggest stars
© Dom Daher/Red Bull Content Pool
He launched Chasing Cancellara, an event series for amateur cyclists, and briefly managed fellow Swiss rider Marc Hirschi. Then came an unexpected opportunity. Cancellara learned that the Swiss Racing Academy – a development team dedicated to nurturing young Swiss talent – had run into financial trouble. The careers of 16 promising riders were suddenly at risk.
When he retired, Cancellara had been convinced of one thing: he would never run a cycling team. But together with his business partner Raphael Meyer, now CEO of Tudor Pro Cycling, he realised they were among the few people capable of saving the Swiss Racing Academy. They stepped in to secure the team's future, and after a few years began thinking bigger.
Fabian Cancellara has lofty ambitions for Tudor Pro Cycling
© Sandro Baebler
We've got big plans
They found a title sponsor in Tudor, and ahead of the 2023 season transformed the academy into a professional team with ambitions of climbing to the very top of the sport. Today, Tudor Pro Cycling employs around 140 people, has lofty ambitions and boasts two marquee signings: French former world champion Julian Alaphilippe and Swiss star Marc Hirschi.
"We've got big plans," says Cancellara. "But we don't want to take on too much too soon." He speaks like someone who knows exactly where he wants to go.
At the end of March, that careful long-term approach was rewarded when Tour de France organisers informed him that Tudor Pro Cycling had received one of the coveted wildcard invitations to cycling's biggest race. Cancellara could barely put his emotions into words. As a child, he had dreamed of riding the Tour. He achieved that dream – and much more – winning eight stages and wearing the famous yellow jersey for a total of 29 days. Now, he is returning to the Tour de France once again. Not as a rider, but as a team owner. It feels as though his childhood dream has come true for a second time.