Gutiérrez shows good Worlds preparation at Eneco

By Monika Prell

The winner of the final stage of the Eneco Tour, José Iván Gutiérrez, believes that he is on a good track for the individual time trial at the World championships on September 27 in Stuttgart. The Caisse d'Epargne rider who finished Wednesday's time trial in second, 11 seconds behind winner Sébastien Rosseler (Quick.Step), said, "It is a pity that I did not win a stage, but I am very very content with my time and, of course, the overall win."

"I had some very strong adversaries for this time trial and also for the overall classification, with the [time trial] specialists [David] Millar, [Leif] Hoste and [Thomas] Dekker, but today I was the strongest one," said Gutiérrez. "I felt good during all the week and today, I began with a lot of confidence."

"This is my third victory this year after the Tour de Méditerranée and the Spanish time trial championship," said the Spaniard. "There is only one month until the beginning of the World Championships, and I think that I am on a good course in my preparation with the goal of achieving something in Stuttgart," finished Gutiérrez.