It may seem implausible to some, but Australian rider Michael Rogers insists that he can turn back the clock and beat Fabian Cancellara to win a fourth rainbow jersey. The 30 year old is motivated by the thoughts of racing on home soil and said that he is highly motivated for the Elite time trial championship, which will take place over 45.6 undulating kilometres.
Rogers took a hat-trick of titles between 2003 and 2005, inheriting the first after David Millar admitted using EPO to win. He hasn’t been in the running since, but believes he’s back to his best form now and is gunning to chase another rainbow jersey.
“I'm as confident as I've ever been,” Rogers said, according to the Canberra Times. “The three years that I won, I went into it in similar condition to what I am now.
''And at the end of the day I can only control my performance. All the time trial comes down to is who's best on the day. I've done it three times, so there's no reason why I can't do it again.''
Rogers has had a strong season, even if the Tour de France didn’t go to plan. He won the Vuelta a Andalucia, was second overall in the Critérium International and was third in the Montepaschi Strade Bianche. He then went on to take third in the Tour de Romandie and won the Tour of California, an important target for his HTC Columbia team.
He’s had a chance to prepare for the worlds and will be psyched by the thoughts of racing in the Melbourne area.
One thing that will give Rogers and others hope is the fact that Cancellara doesn’t have the same sheen of invincibility as in the past. He was beaten by Tony Martin in the final time trial in the Tour de Suisse, and suffered defeat to another HTC Columbia rider, Peter Velits, in the Vuelta a España.
Cancellara then pulled out of the Spanish tour and questioned whether he would ride the worlds, before finally opting to do so.
If he is unable to hit peak form in time, things should be far tighter than before. Rogers fancies his own chances, but HTC Columbia team-mate Tony Martin has been in superb form and will be pushing hard to take his first gold medal in the discipline.
Whatever happens, this year’s championships will enjoy greater suspense than before, and could be more open. If home support can aid Rogers, he’ll dig deep, aim high and hope to recreate his best TT form.