Cycling: Exhausted Dean withdraws from Delhi contention

An exhausted Julian Dean has withdrawn from consideration for the Commonwealth Games team to be named tomorrow.

The 35-year-old was set to make his first Commonwealth Games appearance since Victoria 1994, but pulled out of the Delhi event after consultation with his trainer and the New Zealand selectors.

Dean was expected to have a limited role in the Vuelta a Espana, the third and final of the year's grand tours, but it seems his Garmin-Transitions team have indicated he will have a more significant part to play.

With sprint specialist Tyler Farrar recovering from injury, Dean could be competing for stage victories in Spain as he was towards the end of last month's Tour de France when he earned three podium finishes, including a third on the final stage on the Champs Elysees.

"I know from experience that it is not realistic to carry on the form for much more than two weeks after a grand tour such as the Tour of Spain [Vuelta], particularly at the end of a very long season," Dean said yesterday.

BikeNZ high-performance director Mark Elliott said it was disappointing for New Zealand and for Dean given the profile he has after his Tour heroics.

"But there's only so many races you can get out of one body and the Commonwealth Games doesn't pay his wages," Elliott said.

"It's no different from the All Blacks. You won't see them all turning up to Delhi for the sevens."

Dean said he still expected to be in good form for the world champs in Melbourne, a race that takes place on October 3, the same day as the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and a week before the 167km Delhi road race.

"I'm confident that I'll be in good form for the world championships, [but] I'm not sure if I'd be able to carry that form through to Delhi."

The road race course around Geelong is expected to be tough, with a sharp climb on each of the laps offering the possibility of both a breakaway victory or, as Dean and Greg Henderson would prefer, a sprint finish.

The team for the world championships will be named next month, but tomorrow all eyes will be on the 27-person squad named for Delhi, a team that will see some track riders crossing over to the road.

"With only 27 places available we can't select guys specifically to perform a supporting role on the road but we're lucky in that we've got the likes of Jesse Sergeant, Sam Bewley, Peter Latham and Marc Ryan who are all good enough to cross disciplines," Elliott said.

Elliott is excited by the prospects of a team who can leave the likes of Dean and Tom Scully behind "and we're still going to win medals".

There is excitement about the prospects of a group of young sprinters including Eddie Dawkins.

"We have not had sprinters at world-class level," Elliott said, "but we've now got a group we expect to dominate in the next few years."

Along with Dean and Scully, another rider out of consideration is Te Awamutu's Tim Gudsell, who has had a horror run of injuries continue with a broken collarbone suffered in the open stage of the Tour of Poland at the weekend.

Certain to get a call-up is the self-styled people's champion, Gordon McCauley.

The 38-year-old amateur won bronze at the 2002 Commonwealth Games time trial and has earned selection again after winning the national time trial championships this year.