"I managed to win it last year, so I see no reason why I can’t do well this year" - Tobias Foss positive into World Championships

Tobias Foss will be racing his final time-trial in the World Champion jersey today at the Tour de Pologne, less than one week away from his big goal. As was the case last year, he believes that on a good day he could be up there with the very best.

“If I perform well on the day, the podium should be within reach. I’m really looking forward to it, it’s been quite a difficult year with COVID and sickness, so I think it’s a bit like last season, the preparation hasn’t been 100%," Foss told Cyclingnews in Poland where he's been racing this week. "But I managed to win it last year, so I see no reason why I can’t do well this year, too.”

Last year he was a shocking victor in Wollongong, an outsider who had a superb day where everything fit into place, and he did the time-trial of his life to beat Stefan Küng and Remco Evenepoel. The conditions were hard there, here the case will be different but the Norwegian argues that it is a route that suits him, a very long effort with 48 kilometers in distance.

“Normally the national championships in Norway are at least about 50km long and I’ve done quite a few of those and normally I like them. The longer the better, so I think it suits me well so it could be a good day," he believes. "I’ve seen a bit of the Scotland course on the computer, after flying from here to Glasgow, I’ll use the first days there to do some recons of the course.”

Foss is in Poland this week where he was an outsider for the overall classification in the post-Tour de France race. His season hasn't gone to plan, with illnesses in the way of his form and racing schedule, but he looks to pop up just in time for the worlds. Today he starts as an outsider for the 16-kilometer time-trial, an important test for him ahead of the big day.

“Last year before the race I had a really good feeling about how I could make the top five if I had a good day. And then I had a superb day and it was enough for the win," he finishes. "This year it’s basically the same: just go out and go full, execute the time trial well. For anyone to win you need to have a special day. So it’s hard to put a number on what I can do, but I still believe a podium could be well within reach.”