In cycling, it is never too late for a World Championships debut. That was proved by Lars Teutenberg who did his first Worlds in Ponferrada at the age of 44 when he lined up as the third German in the time trial alongside defending champion Tony Martin and Nikias Arndt.

Unfortunately, the veteran had to realize that his efforts were only good enough for a 48th place.

"I am not sastisfied with the result. The out-and-back course was simply too difficult for me," he says in an interview with radsport-news.com

Teutenberg whose main occupation is a job at Scott which provides bikes for IAM and Orica-GreenEDGE, earned his spot by virtue of a strong showing at the German time trial championships in Baunatal where he finished third behind Martin and Arndt. Unfortunately, the race was not made for a rider with his characteristics.

"I prefer it to be completely flat but I was happy with my race. My goal was to be a little less than two minutes slower than Tony because that would have been good enough for a top result at the national level," Teutenberg says.

Despite another top result - he was fourth at the 2013 national time trial championships - he was not sure about his selection for the Words.

"There was a lot of back and forth because my selection would not exactly count as development of young talent," Teutenberg laughs. Ultimately, the selectors at the German Cycling Federation BDR were probably convinced by his performance at the German Derny Championships where he was second behind Leif Lampater after a five-week break from racing.

Another milestone for the older brother of Sven and Ina-Yoko should be an Hour Record Attempt - he had already applied for that in June. But since he is not under contract with a professional team, Teutenberg should have been in the UCI Biological Passport Programme for six months in order to attack the record.

"Then it would have been no sooner than January. I would certainly not have been in the right condition. On the other hand, the new mark would have been too good for me," said Teutenberg who decided to provide active technical support for IAM rider Matthias Brändle's Hour Record Attempt.

Next year Teutenberg will again combine his job with professional cycling.

"If the motivation is there and my family will continue to support me, I want to again focus on the German time trial championships. If all goes well, I will be in the mix," Teutenberg says. However, he won't be riding for a continental team. "That would be too time-consuming," he says.

That will provide Teutenberg with the opportunity to prepare specifically for the German TT championships.

"Since I have less races, I can do much harder workouts on the time trial bike," says the rider who won the U23 Thüringen Rundfahrt in 1998.