It is not often that a defending champion competes in a competition shrouded in mystery, but the upheaval Rohan Dennis experienced this summer was such that he did not even know how he would fare in Wednesday's World Championship time trial. We don't even know which bike he will be riding.

The Australian, who won the title in Innsbruck 12 months ago, has not raced since his abrupt retirement at the Tour de France in July. So even though he said Monday that he is "full of confidence," it is difficult to assess his condition from the outside.

As for the bike, Dennis has made it clear that he will not be riding the team-supplied Merida Time Warp, suggesting that his relationship with the Bahrain-Merida team has been broken since the Tour. Instead, he plans to use a yet-to-be-identified setup, and his reluctance to discuss his equipment choices reflects the sensitivity surrounding these sponsorship issues, even if he is free to use whatever he likes.

Dennis spoke to a small group of reporters in Harrogate on Monday in a forceful tone after Cycling Australia's media representative advised him not to ask questions related to Bahrain-Merida.

"My expectation is to back up and win again. Worst case scenario, I think I can get on the podium."

"If things go smoothly and I can give the performance I really think I can, there's no reason why I can't win."

He feels that the 54-km long, undulating course in North Yorkshire is one where he can play to his strengths. But is he physically fit?

"The preliminaries for the World Championships were different from the previous ones. I was a little nervous at first," Dennis admitted.

"When you have 10 weeks between races, you don't know where you are. Being in the peloton, obviously you can feel it in the results and in keeping up with the other athletes. I got a lot of help, especially from David Spindler, a sports psychologist, on the mental side."

"The only thing I could do off the field was to achieve my goals in training. If I hadn't achieved that goal, my confidence would have been a little bit shot.

Dennis admitted that he had lost some confidence in the aftermath of his Tour loss, but he quickly returned home and resumed training. In three of the last five years he has raced the Vuelta a España in preparation for the World Championships, but this year he has not competed since July and has not attempted to replicate that workload in training.

"I have done a lot of very specific work. I don't do a lot of base training. I've been shortening my blocks so I don't put too much extra strain on my body; I've been sticking to two or three day blocks and trying to keep up the intensity and the specific work and nail down what I need to do to get good at this."

"It was a very difficult buildup, but I think we really nailed it. So I'm confident that Wednesday will be a very good race. I feel good on the bike and the numbers are the best they've ever been. Things look really positive."

While all the other riders will be racing on the bikes they have been using with their trade teams all season, Dennis will head off-piste. Cycling News spotted a blacked-out BMC Time Machine at Cycling Australia's hotel in Yorkshire.

However, Dennis refused to elaborate on the bikes, components, and helmets he will use on Wednesday.

"It's national team equipment supplied by Cycling Australia, and through testing I decided it was the best possible equipment for me," he said.

When a more specific question about the bike resurfaced, he simply replied: "It's national team equipment. When asked why he chose this bike, he added: "The national team decided it was the best equipment for me, my shape, and to get the results here."

"I've literally just been testing for this race, I've been on the national team every year since I was a junior in 2007. Since then I've started finding information on what's best for me."

Being away from sponsored equipment at the World Championships, while within the rules, is always nerve-wracking. When Linda Bilmsen competed in the World Time Trial Championships in 2015 on a blacked-out, non-team-supplied bike, she drew the ire of her bosses at United Healthcare, who nearly fired her on the spot.

Asked if he had ever encountered such a problem in Bahrain-Merida, Dennis replied, "Not at all": "Not at all," and then claimed: "National teams beat trade teams."

As for whether Bahrain-Merida is satisfied with the situation, even if they are powerless: "You have to ask them about that."

Dennis stuck to the ill-advised topic of his relationship with the trade team, confirming that he has no plans to race for Bahrain-Merida again in 2019, but gave no indication as to what might happen in 2020.

The Tour de France episode made headlines when the team staff could offer no explanation as to why he suddenly dismounted from his bike on the eve of the time trial, but the fallout was clear. Denis deleted his Twitter account in the aftermath and gave an interview to an Australian newspaper 10 days ago.

"At first. At first it was," he said, responding to a question about whether he had lost confidence.

"That [deleting social media] was the first step, but I still hear things. I tried to get rid of the negative thoughts in my own head and bring in more positive ones.

Asked if he had anything to say about what has happened in the past few months, Dennis replied: "Nothing." As for the future, "Let's get through Wednesday and Sunday first."