After abandoning the Vuelta a Espana, Fabian Cancellara’s Trek team has said it would be “unrealistic”  for him to try and win the World Road Race Championships.

“He fought hard and trained hard to come here, to reach a good level to prepare for the worlds. He keeps dreaming of the worlds,” team sport director, Dirk Demol told VeloNews.

“The dream stayed alive before he came here, but now we have to be realistic. When you want to have a chance in the worlds, you have to go 100 percent, but now, to reach that level it’s going to be so difficult.”

With an American Worlds and Trek being an American team with sponsors from their home country, Demol said it is still important Cancellara is in the USA next month, but they are unsure what role he would play there.

“It’s important for us, the sponsor, that he’s there in Richmond, but a rider like him … If you are not 100 percent, what do you do there?”

“I felt so bad for him off the back and suffering yesterday; that’s not Fabian. It’s too early to say, but it’s almost unrealistic that we can dream of being in an OK condition to go there.”