"I think after winning the Worlds, expectations are always high" - Tobias Foss knows confirming his Wollongong 2022 title won't be an easy task

He's already gotten used to it last year, but Tobias Foss was once again on everyone's radar ahead of UAE Tour's stage 2 time trial. Even more so that the INEOS Grenadiers rider brought with himself a large caliber weapon - the monstrous 68-tooth chainring. This setup eventually led to a decent fourth place for the former World Champion.

"I think after winning the Worlds, expectations are always high but I think it was just an average TT," Foss told GCN about the UAE Tour time trial. "It was on my average level, so I still missed the high-intensity stuff and that's also planned. I think in the end it was a well-executed time trial and at the moment, what I am capable of."

"I think if you look to 2022 when I won the Worlds, if you look at the year as a whole I was always top 10, top five and sometimes close to the podium, so I was always up there but never the best time trialist in the world. I was just the best that day and I was really lucky with that day being the World Championships."

"I am grateful for it and in the end, I have to be realistic that I had never won any time trials before that, so for me, to expect winning every time is unrealistic. My belief is actually stronger than before after proving to myself that I am capable of winning the Worlds."