Cancellara won't race world championships

After a season of myriad injuries and setbacks, Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) has decided to forgo UCI World Road Championships and end his 2015 season. The 34-year-old Swiss is a four-time world time trial champion, although he hasn’t worn the rainbow jersey in four years.

“Physically I could probably go on and race the world championships. But it’s the mind that controls the body, and I don’t have the will to go through the whole comeback thing once more after the rollercoaster that this season has been,” Cancellara said in a team press statement. “It’s a matter of focus. Dealing with a serious injury during the course of one season is not easy, and I have had to do it twice already this year. It’s mentally very challenging and it drains your energy. I don’t have batteries anymore for a third comeback in one season,”

In late August, a virus forced him to drop out of the Vuelta a España with stomach problems. Prior to that, he broke two vertebrae in the Tour de France, while wearing the yellow jersey, and in the spring, a similar vertebrae fracture knocked him out of E3 Harelbeke, derailing his classics campaign.

“Since I returned home from the Vuelta I have been questioning myself a lot,” Cancellara added. “It’s more than just a lack of motivation. It goes deeper than that. It feels impossible to load the batteries enough to break through that wall in your head.

“I’m sad not to be racing the worlds, of course. The TTT is an important race for our team, and everybody knows how much I love racing for Switzerland.”