winner, with Cancellara managing to sprint to a third-place finish. In September, Cancellara announced he would not compete in the World Championship Time Trial event, concentrating his energy for the road race which profile he said suited him. He withdrew from the Vuelta a España before Stage 18 to better prepare for this race. 2015: Crashes and injuries Cancellara's 2015 campaign started strong with a victory on Stage 2 of the Tour of Oman. He outsprinted a leading ten-man group to take the honours. In the Italian race Tirreno–Adriatico, he had a good prologue, taking second place behind Adriano Malori by a single second. He went on to win the final 10 km time trial of the race. In Milan–San Remo, Cancellara was in the leading group, sprinting to seventh place. The following week, Cancellara crashed badly in E3 Harelbeke, suffering two minor fractures in the transverse processes of his lower vertebrae. His injuries prevented him from defending his Tour of Flanders title, thereby ending his spring classics campaign. He came back at the Tour des Fjords in late May without registering a significant result. On home soil at the Tour de Suisse, he was second in the opening prologue and third in the final individual time trial, both times behind new time trial star Tom Dumoulin. In the Tour de France, Cancellara came in third of stage one's individual time trial. On the second stage, he was donned the yellow jersey thanks to a third place, which gave him four bonus seconds. He was involved in a mass pile-up on the third stage, and finished the race slowly. After a visit to the hospital, it was revealed that he had suffered two transverse process fractures in two vertebrae in his lower back and he had to abandon. He restarted competition at the Vuelta a España, aiming to regain his form for the world championships. A lingering stomach ailment forced him to abandon the race on stage 3, ruling him out of competition for the world championships in Richmond. On 11 November 2015, having suffered a season rife with serious injuries and illness, Cancellara announced that he would retire at the end of the 2016 season. 2016: Final season Entering his last season as a professional, he started with a win in the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, part of the Vuelta a Mallorca, in late January. Two weeks later, he