Fabian Cancellara confirms for Worlds
Defending time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara has announced that he will be joining the Swiss team at the UCI Road World Championships in Geelong and Melbourne, Australia, from
29 September to 3 October. The Swiss cyclist had previously announced that he was yet to decide if he would attend. After finishing third in the time-trial stage of the Vuelta a Espana, he abandoned the Spanish Grand Tour, where he was competing with Team
Saxo Bank, to train on home soil and consider the Championships.
“It was three hard weeks, in which I put myself fully at the service of the team,” said Cancellara. “But the Vuelta was good for my form, I feel better now than I did at the start
of the race. But I had to think of myself for once, and flew home two days earlier than planned.”
Cancellara held a press conference today to confirm that he would be defending his title in the time-trial as well as competing in the road race, for which he had also been a favourite
last year when the Championships were held on his home soil in Switzerland. He ultimately finished fifth in the road race, but the slightly flatter route of this year’s race might be better suited to the rider.
“When I take the world championships in Mendrisio in 2009 as a comparison, when the situation was similar, I am confident,” said Cancellara. “I’m on the right track and the legs feel good. I must now just
make a click in my head.”
The 29-year-old rider has also announced that he will be leaving Team Saxo Bank at the end of the season, though he hasn’t signed with a new team yet. Chris White, CEO of Pegasus Racing, has publicly expressed
interest in signing the Swiss rider, in the team’s ongoing effort to be chosen for a ProTour license for 2011.
“Will we be able to provide him with the support that he will need to achieve his primary objectives of the year, which will be the one-day classics like Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders, which he won
this year?” said White. “Our answer to that last week was yes. And it still is now.”
The team has already netted major riders Robbie McEwen and Svein Tuft, and more signings are expected to be announced before the Championships.
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