McEwen sees no chance to ride in Worlds

Robbie McEwen thinks it highly unlikely that he will be selected to the Australian World Championship team.  The RadioShack rider finished only twelfth in Paris-Brussels on Saturday, a race he has won five times in the past.

“Sunday the names will be officially announced, but twelfth place is not a good recommendation.  To be in Copenhagen, I had to win.”

The World Championships will be held September 19-25 in Copenhagen.

McEwen won Paris-Brussels in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, and had hoped to repeat his success this year.

“I was a bit blocked in and two kilometers from the finish I hit a traffic island.  About 40 to 50 riders shot past me.  I tried to come back on the home straight, but it was already over.  If you have to come from so far behind, you know it's difficult to win.  And I did not have the strength.”

The 39-year-old has only one win this season, a stage at the Tour de Wallonie.  He has signed for the new Australian GreenEdge team for next season, saying he will ride for only the first half of the season and then become a technical advisor to the team.