The champion New Zealand cyclist Julian Dean has arrived at Varese in the foothills of the Irtalian Alps with high hopes of a strong showing in this weekend's UCI World Road Race Championships.
He will be supported by US-based Glenn Chadwick, but the Olympic track rider Greg Henderson withdrew overnight after not recovering from illness following the Tour of Britain.
BikeNZ road coach Jacques Landry is hoping the France-based Beijing road racer Tim Gudsell will be able to fill in the gap.
Landry says the lumpy course could suit Dean as the 15-lap course has two long climbs which are likely to be too tough for the pure sprinters and not demanding enough to suit the climbers - but ideal for the power sprinters like Dean.
Dean's competing on the back of some outstanding form in the Tour of Britain where he enjoyed five top-five finishes to place second overall in the sprint points.
Landry also believes Joanne Kiesanowski and mountain bikers Rosara Joseph and Kaytee Boyd are poised to do well, while the under-23 men's combination of Michael Torckler, Clinton Avery and Alex Meenhorst should acquit themselves well.
The campaign begins with the under-23 road race over 173km tomorrow, the women's race over 140km on Sunday and the men over 260km on Monday.
