Fabian Cancellara is targeting a fifth world individual time trial title on Wednesday but with so many rainbow jerseys already won, he has insisted he feels under no pressure to do it again, naming Tony Martin, Bradley Wiggins, Taylor Phinney and "an Australian rider" as the favourites for the 57.9km race.
"They're the favourites considering that the course is flat and with long straight roads," Cancellara told the Italian news agency ANSA during a press conference.
"I'm relaxed but focused because I know I've worked well."
"The course seems hard, I know I'll have to push hard and pedal a lot. My rivals perhaps have got an advantage on me but I'm not racing against them but against the clock. And that's what I'm good at."
Italian roots
Cancellara admitted that his Italian roots - his parents are from Potenza in southern Italy - will give extra motivation but not put any extra pressure on his shoulders.
"If I win I suppose the Italian press will be happy but I'm proud to be Swiss. But I can't deny that racing in Switzerland will give me a bit more motivation," he said.
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Cancellara carefully avoided question about Sunday's road race, where is also a major favourite after showing impressive form on the climbs at the Vuelta a Espana. He's taking the world championships one event at a time.
However he was disappointed that Radioshack-Leopard was only fifth in the team time trial event, despite his efforts to drag the team to a better result.
"Let's see how Wednesday's time trial goes first, then we'll evaluate things for Sunday," he said.
"We wanted to win the team time trial but we lost a lot of time. That result won’t affect my motivation for Wednesday or for the road race. Even if I lose on Wednesday, I won't cry…"
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
