Fabian Cancellara explained during the press conference that he is still hungry for success with the World championships like a possible objective. The Trek Factory Racing rider crashed during the Tour de France while wearing the yellow jersey. He fractured two vertebra.

"This season has been a real roller coaster for me but I’m still motivated. If I look back I’ve had some good moments, some really successful moments, like winning Oman and wearing yellow at the Tour but then some real low moments with crashes and illness too", he said according to Cyclingnews from Marbella some hours before the start of the Vuelta a Espana. "The ups and down have made I hard to bounce back. But I’ve been lucky that I still won some big races when I did come back and so proved that I could still be successful and deserve my place in the peloton. But it hasn’t been easy that’s for sure."

Spartacus told why he decided to race the Spanish three-week race. "We preferred to ride the Vuelta and perhaps suffer in certain moments rather than opt for a mixed race programme with lots travelling and interruption. I’m not going to worry about if I’m working well, I’m going to ride my bike and get on with the racing. We’ve seen that the route of the Vuelta can help my gradual comeback to good form."

About the Worlds, he will expect how his shape will be during the Vuelta. "I’m going to focus on the Vuelta and not let any pressure or expectations build up. The Worlds seem far away but they’ll come quickly and I just want to see what happens. If I think just about the Worlds I’d make a mistake. I’m going to race day by day, help the team and share my experience with them for the good of the team. There are a lot of great riders here, with very strong teams. We’re ready to join in the attacks and go for the sprints with Van Poppel and we’ve got Fränk Schleck and Jasper Stuyven, who is on form too. We’re motivated."

Trek Factory Racing line-up for Vuelta a Espana: Fabian Cancellara, Markel Irizar, Yaroslav Popovych, Frank Schleck, Jasper Steven, Boy and Danny van Poppel, Riccardo Zoidl, Haimar Zubeldia.