Zabriskie hopes for a good day

By Hedwig Kröner in Salzburg

Hanging out with his American U23 colleagues in the start area of Wednesday's time trial at the World Championships was Dave Zabriskie, always happy to entertain the national team with his famous dry humour. The Team CSC rider was taking things easy on the eve of the big day, upon which he has definitely set his mind.

"The course is very difficult," he said, having reconned it several times. "It's not that technical, rather challenging with some turns and the climbs. Very rolling, but not extremely technical."

Zabriskie is very motivated for the victory, but he knows that he's up against some big guys like "Vinokourov, Rogers, Cancellara and Millar. Of course I would like to win, but so does everybody else. I haven't done a lot of races lately - which is good, because I'm tired - but that way I can't say how I compare to them. Hopefully well!"

The 27 year-old has been struggling with fluctuating performances lately. "Some days it's good, some days it's like... oh, what happened?" Zabriskie said about his current form, 19 days after he won the USPRO Championships time trial. "It's also the end of the season, and I feel a bit tired. My form is just changing from day to day - I hope tomorrow is a good day."