After the Tour de France, I took a somewhat longer break than originally planned. The Giro d'Italia, Tour de Suisse and Tour de France took quite a lot out of me. I was highly fatigued, both physically and mentally, after all that. And yet I am still looking ahead.

Now nobody can take away from me the overall win in the Tour de Suisse, the prologue win and the week in Maillot Jaune in the Tour de France. Last week I started back training. I trained between four and five hours a day from Wednesday through Friday.

I'm quite satisfied with my performance at the Vattenfall Cyclassics on the weekend in Hamburg. I was up in the front for a long time helping out my team, especially Matti Breschel who ended up with second place. I feel great motivation, ambition and willpower within me.

And that is what it is going to take to reach my goals for the season ahead. At the Vuelta a Espaņa I'm going to be preparing for the world championships in Mendrisio. I need this race, because training alone would not deliver enough motivation, to be honest.

I'm thrilled that the world championships are going to be held in Switzerland this year, and I intend to make the most of it. This week I will also be training for several hours, and motorbike training sessions are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of next week. Then it's off to Netherlands, where the Vuelta is being held on August 29.