“I’m happy that is over,” Cancellara said. “It was a very hard parcours that was not perfect for a specialist, but I said to myself that I needed to do my race at my own pace and just find the right rhythm for myself.”

The 39km course in Tarazona featured a category 3 summit half way through the route.

“The uphill section was very rough especially with the wind. That caused a lot of disruption of my rhythm,” said the Swiss rider. “Plus yesterday was the rest day so you never know how your body will respond on the day after and I’ve put in a lot of work in the first ten days of the Vuelta working for Chris Horner.”

An early best time was posted by current world time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) with a time of 51:37. Cancellara upped the game by stopping the clock at 51:00, more than half-a-minute faster than Martin. No one else came close to the top times and third place went to Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r) at 1’24” off the winning time.

Earlier in the 2013 season Fabian Cancellara added more victories to his already admirable list of wins. Chalking up success in E3 Harelbeke and taking the Tour of Flanders for a second time, Cancellara also added a third cobblestone trophy from the prestigious Paris-Roubaix. He also holds four World Time Trial championships and a gold medal from the 2008 Olympic time trial, as well as numerous Swiss championships from his homeland. He also has spent more time in the yellow jersey of the Tour de France than anyone who has not actually won the race.

Cancellara returns to the Worlds in two weeks, hoping to earn more medals in the championships: “I know that I gave the maximum today. This was a good test for me and it had nothing to do with my competitors and more about seeing how I’m feeling. It was both uphill and then downhill and required a good workout.  I’m happy with my performance.  I think I got the best out of myself today.”