 Cancellara 's pedigree , 2011 successes , and status as defending champion made him a major favorite for the second monument race , the Tour of Flanders . Cancellara put in a seemingly decisive move from the head of the main field on the Leberg , the fourteenth cobbled climb on the day 's parcours . He quickly opened up a time gap of over a minute , and the race seemed to be decided . He cracked on the Muur van Geraardsbergen , however , and was swept up by an elite leading group of favorites and contenders . He put in a second acceleration on the last climb , the <unk> , and was followed by Sylvain Chavanel and Nick Nuyens . Having perhaps spent himself too early in the race by attacking solo and not working with other riders to gain a large time gap , Cancellara could only manage third of the three . After the race , Cancellara blasted Nuyens and the other riders in the race , saying they only rode to keep him from winning . He referred to himself as a " gladiator " and said that the manner in which Nuyens won , staying in Cancellara 's slipstream and then outsprinting him with the line in view , had no value in his eyes . 
