Marco Pinotti was the missing name from the BMC roster for the world championships team time trial which was announced yesterday. The Italian explains to CyclingQuotes.com that his absence is in the interest of both himself and his team with the power course being more suited to the squad's bigger riders.

With 6 Italian time trial championships and two Giro d'Italia time trial wins under his belt, Marco Pinotti belongs to the select elite of the best time trialists in the world. With the Italian playing an important role in last year's silver medal ride, one would think that the 37-year-old would be an obvious choice for the BMC roster for tomorrow's world championships team time trial.

However, Pinotti was the major omission from the line-up that was announced yesterday. After having abandoned the Vuelta a Espana due to a sinus infection, he had recovered at home before joining his teammates at their world championships training camp. All was set for a ride tomorrow but he didn't make the cut when 8 riders were whittled down to the final 6-rider roster.

With success in the individual time trial on home soil being a big target- last year he was about to take a medal when he crashed late in the race - the decision to skip the event was one that suited both the team and Pinotti well.

"I think the team chose to let me focus on the individual time trial," he tells CyclingQuotes.com at the end of a recon ride of the time trial course. "It's the best choice for both parts. The team time trial is based more on absolute power and the riders that are starting, are heavier than me and able to produce more power than me when they are in front."

"The two time trials are a little bit different. The team time trial is more about high power and the riders that have been selected are more suited to this kind of effort. The other one is more constant. The team had 6 riders that were suited to this kind of effort so it was a common choice."

Instead, it will be all about the time trial for Pinotti but he admits that a medal is probably beyond his reach. As a smaller, more versatile rider, the Italian time trial specialist knows that it will be difficult to beat riders like Bradley Wiggins, Tony Martin, Fabian Cancellara and teammate Taylor Phinney on the mostly flat course in Florence.

"I think I have recovered [from my illness]," he told CyclingQuotes.com. "I am focused on the event but of course on this kind of course the favourites are the big guys. If you exclude 4-5 names, the rest is quite open. It's a long time trial. You always expect some good surprises - 1 or 2 riders that don't go very well and 1 or 2 riders that do really well. Apart from the first 3-5 spots, it is quite open."

At 37 years of age, Pinotti eyes retirement in a not too distant future. He is in the final year of his current contract but refuses to be drawn into any kind of discussion over his career plans.

"I will think about my future after the world championships," he said. "I will focus on the time trial and then I sit down and decide about the future after this event."

Pinotti's best world championships result was his 4th place in 2009 in Mendrisio.