Cancellara wins ninth national time trial title

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Fabian Cancellara claimed his third consecutive Swiss national time trial title today, and the ninth of his career on a hilly 44.6km course in Roggliswil.

Still feeling the effects of an allergic reaction to a bee sting that knocked him out of the Tour de Suisse last weekend, the Trek Factory Racing rider nonetheless managed to churn out a 46.3kph average speed to win over Stefan Küng (BMC Development Team) by 49 seconds. Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing) was third at 1:07.

"I felt okay, but not really special. After my bee sting and the hard Tour de Suisse, I still did not feel 100% recovered. But that is also normal – when you are allergic to bee venom, you have to take care and rest. I felt pretty tired the last few days.

"I tried to push like I knew I had to for a time trial. 45 kilometers is always a long effort and you have to fight from the beginning to the end.

"It was a hard parcours, quite technical and on small roads. But the organization provided 100% safety on this course and that for me was very important. It's not always easy to have this in Switzerland."

Cancellara will line up for the road race on Sunday to attempt to win the third title of his career. He won in 2011 and before that in 2009, but he has never been able to win both events in the same year.

"It's fantastic to win the [time trial] jersey again, but honestly I would love more to win the road championships. But in the end, every jersey is a jersey, a win is a win, and it's important for me, for the team, for the sponsors, for everyone, and that is also nice. On Sunday Greggy [Rast] and I will do our best, but we will have to fight against IAM and BMC who have more riders. It will not be easy."

Should he be victorious on Sunday, Cancellara will wear the Swiss national champion's jersey throughout the Tour de France. He was named in the Trek squad's roster yesterday.