Swiss cyclist Fabian Cancellara says his long-term goal is to win the Worlds road title and to set the hour record. This year, though, he will focus on defending his title at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix one-day Classics.
"I want to be able to be competitive even at the Amstel Gold, a week after Roubaix. More than that? No, because I am the defending champion in Flanders and Roubaix, and I'm not going back just to wear the number 1," Cancellara told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Future objectives? Not the Tour de France, that's a dream. I'd have to make even more sacrifices than I do now. No, thanks. Winning the other two Monuments that I lack: Lombardia and Liège. The Worlds road race. Wearing the pink jersey at the Giro. The hour record. Of course, you cannot do it all in the same year."
Cancellara won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix last year and added to his win at Milano-Sanremo in 2008. He would become only the fourth cyclist in history to win all five monuments if he adds Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Giro di Lombardia.
Belgians Roger De Vlaeminck, Rik Van Looy and Eddy Merckx are the only riders to have won all five. After Cancellara won Flanders in April, he said that he was anxious to join the three champions with that distinction.
"It is possible, but my preparations have to be different," he said then. "I have to think about skipping Roubaix."
Belgium's Liège-Bastogne-Liège falls two weeks after Roubaix, but Lombardia is in the autumn. Only three riders have been successful in Liège after winning Roubaix: Rik van Looy in 1961, Eddy Merckx in 1973 and Sean Kelly in 1984.
Cancellara told La Gazzetta dello Sport today that his plans to set the hour record, currently held by Ondrej Sosenka (who covered 49.7km in July 2005), hit a road block. He had planned to target the individual pursuit at the 2012 Olympics next year before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and UCI removed it.
"They took the individual pursuit out of the Olympic programme. A wrong decision. I would have tried to get on the podium in London in 2012, and then the hour record," added Cancellara. "We'll see. I'll try, but not this year or the next. And not in Italy."
His last major win came in September when he claimed a record fourth World Championship time trial title. In 2008, he won the Olympic time trial in Beijing.