With four proven time trialists in six-man roster, Trek Factory Racing team was considered a strong candidate for a podium spot in yesterday’s World Championship team time trial. Eventually finishing in seventh place, and no worse than that mainly thanks to strong pulls done by Fabian Cancellara at the front, had to be taken as disappointment. However, the Swiss rider admitted that his appearance in the event was more of an obligation than his own will as he remained fully focused on the road race held next Sunday.

Shortly before pulling out of the Vuelta a Espana, which served Cancellara as final build-up towards World Championships, he announced that he would skip the individual time trial this year in order to fully focus on the road race. A decision not to participate in the opening team event would go in line with that approach, but even the Swiss classics specialist has to follow team orders.

“Eh, good question,” Cancellara answered when asked whether it would be better for him to skip both time trial events. “I think to skip the time trial was already somehow necessary for me because the main goal is Sunday, that’s not a secret.”

“I had to find the middle way from my own experience towards my training and also the political situation with Trek and the team,” Cancellara explained. “There’s a whole mix – that’s not a secret and that’s how it is. It’s not just ‘ok, I can do whatever I want’ and the team does whatever it wants. We find a middle way and on the end I love also the team time trial.”

Despite not participating in the individual time trial on Wednesday, Cancellara will stay in Ponferrada in order to finalize his trainings before the road race. Even though the 33-year old Swiss claimed that efforts of the long 2014 season have started to wear his off, he is known from notoriously playing mind games with his rivals during spring campaigns and this he as well may line-up at Sunday’s event in splendid disposition.

“I will stay here. I will of course do my last training here and I’m looking forward to the race,” he said, adding: “I’m looking forward to my holidays too. I don’t say I’m tired, but I’m getting tired.”

“We’re not in Firenze, we’re in a place where it’s maybe hard to really motivate the last thing,” Cancellara said of the Ponferrada Worlds. “But I’m focused and that’s what counts. That’s what it’s all about now. I’ll just enjoy the last pain of the year and that’s all.”

It’s not a big secret that Cancellara dreams of wearing the rainbow jersey before hanging up his wheels. The 33-year old rider admitted that entering the event with only three riders won’t make things easier as they will face several impressively strong squads, but he didn’t seem to be too worried about that.

“Of course now we’re starting with just two riders, so things are different,” he said. “There are many other riders and nationalities with a super strong team but we know it’s the Worlds, and the Worlds is always a difficult race.”