A few minutes ago, in front of a fantastic audience in Mendrisio, a visibly moved Fabian Cancellara accepted his gold medal for the time trial world title. This is the sixth World Cup gold medal (incl. junior categories) in the time trial, the discipline against the clock, for the Bernese cyclist.

For the third time he is wearing the rainbow jersey in the elite squad. With Alex Zülle's title included, Switzerland is now the leading nation in this category.

'It was a great day, everything went perfectly', said a happy Cancellara, who reclaimed the world title from the German, Bert Grabsch. Last year, after winning Olympic gold in Beijing, he didn't compete in the World Cup.

In Ticino, Cancellara gave his all to the end, and with an average speed of 51.58 kilometres, finished the fastest time trial in history with a sensational lead of 1:27 minutes. 'I really gave my all, right to the finish, for this world title at the World Championships here in Switzerland and I want to thank everybody who has supported me along the way.' One medal is still missing in Cancellara's collection: his declared goal is to win the double world champion title.

'For now, I'll just rest and relax. The preparations for the second race are due to begin on Friday morning,'' declared the new world champion.

According to Bjarne Riis, manager of Team Saxo Bank, who also supported Cancellara in Ticino: "Fabian is clearly in better shape than a year ago at the Beijing Olympics.".