Fabian Cancellara retained the men's time trial title Thursday at the road cycling world championships by overwhelming the opposition.
The Swiss rider covered the hilly 44.9-kilometer or 27.9-mile course over the streets of Stuttgart in 55 minutes, 41 seconds, leaving Laszlo Bodrogi of Hungary 52 seconds behind in second and Stef Clement of the Netherlands 58 seconds back in third.
"It was a hard thing, there was bigger pressure on me than last year," Cancellara said.
"I am not in the same condition as last year. I'm pretty satisfied ... We will drink a glass of champagne or more."
Cancellara, who wore the leader's yellow jersey for the first week of this year's Tour de France after winning the prologue, retained the title he won last year in Graz, Austria.
In cloudy and cool conditions, Cancellara overtook Vladimir Gusev even though the Russian started one minute before him. The Swiss also caught up with last year's silver medalist David Zabriskie of the United States, who started two minutes earlier and faded to 12th.
Last year, Cancellara ended the three-year reign of Australia's Michael Rogers.
During this year's Tour de France, Cancellara crashed in rain during the first time trial. It rained hard before the time trial Thursday but it stopped shortly before the race started.
"I didn't want to crash again but I went out fast to see how I was doing compared to the others," Cancellara said.
Cancellara, who started last in the 69-man field, already was nine seconds ahead at the first split after 8.4 kilometers or 5.2 miles.
He steadily built up his lead to win by a big margin.
the HT England
The Swiss rider covered the hilly 44.9-kilometer or 27.9-mile course over the streets of Stuttgart in 55 minutes, 41 seconds, leaving Laszlo Bodrogi of Hungary 52 seconds behind in second and Stef Clement of the Netherlands 58 seconds back in third.
"It was a hard thing, there was bigger pressure on me than last year," Cancellara said.
"I am not in the same condition as last year. I'm pretty satisfied ... We will drink a glass of champagne or more."
Cancellara, who wore the leader's yellow jersey for the first week of this year's Tour de France after winning the prologue, retained the title he won last year in Graz, Austria.
In cloudy and cool conditions, Cancellara overtook Vladimir Gusev even though the Russian started one minute before him. The Swiss also caught up with last year's silver medalist David Zabriskie of the United States, who started two minutes earlier and faded to 12th.
Last year, Cancellara ended the three-year reign of Australia's Michael Rogers.
During this year's Tour de France, Cancellara crashed in rain during the first time trial. It rained hard before the time trial Thursday but it stopped shortly before the race started.
"I didn't want to crash again but I went out fast to see how I was doing compared to the others," Cancellara said.
Cancellara, who started last in the 69-man field, already was nine seconds ahead at the first split after 8.4 kilometers or 5.2 miles.
He steadily built up his lead to win by a big margin.
the HT England
http://www.Tell.ch .:/ und ewig grüsst der Gesslerhut \ :.
Wer kämpft kann verlieren. Wer nicht kämpft hat schon verloren!
"Man wisse zwar nicht ob Wilhelm Tell gelebt habe,
aber dass er den Gessler erschossen habe, stehe fest!" by Hans Weigel
Wer kämpft kann verlieren. Wer nicht kämpft hat schon verloren!
"Man wisse zwar nicht ob Wilhelm Tell gelebt habe,
aber dass er den Gessler erschossen habe, stehe fest!" by Hans Weigel
