Cycling: Dean hell-bent on Olympic reprise

Julian Dean, New Zealand's most successful cyclist, has joined the new Australian GreenEdge team. Photo / Christine Cornege

Julian Dean remains hell-bent on lining up for a fifth and final Olympics appearance and says the course for this year's road race in London is tailor-made for his abilities.

Dean, who turns 37 today, has been in Rotorua for the past couple of weeks preparing for what might be his final season taking on the world's great cycling tours.

With wife Carole and their boys aged 6 and 3, Dean will continue to live in Spain but is closer to home in a manner of speaking, having left an American outfit to join the new Australian GreenEdge team.

Deans has forged a magnificent professional career, building a reputation as one of the best leadout riders in the business. High on his list of achievements - which include seven Tour de France rides and two top 10 world road race placings - was the 2004 Olympics in Athens where a 15th place did not reflect the quality of the performance. Four years later, however, he struggled in Beijing.

"London is an intermediate course, not easy or real difficult, and those are the environments where I do best. It's not dissimilar to the worlds in 2005 when I got ninth - I think I'm capable of a top 10 at these Olympics," he said.

New Zealand has two spots available in this year's Olympic road race but Dean believes one of those will be lost so an extra track cyclist goes to London. Fellow road rider Greg Henderson has criticised New Zealand's over-emphasis on the medal-contending track team and while Dean sympathises with that position, he said it is a tricky situation.

"For the younger guys especially, it would be good for them to have a more complete road programme," said Dean, who is one of seven Kiwi riders in professional road teams.

"The heart of cycling is still on the road ... but it is infinitely harder to win a medal in the road race than the teams pursuit. There are a lot more variables in road cycling ... only the Aussies, Poms, Russians and Kiwis tip money into the pursuit teams.

"It is a tough one, though, when it comes to dishing out money and cycling has to justify the millions it receives. I don't know what the answer is because they get their money from Sparc or whatever on their track results. The odds are we will only get a top 10 finish in the world road racing championships once every 10 years."

Dean and Henderson are leading road race contenders but if New Zealand does enter two riders, Dean believes the second man should be Jack Bauer because he is better suited to being a support rider bringing food and liquid to the Kiwi No1.

While he is considering retirement, Dean hopes to continue if he has a good season with GreenEdge, whose star rider Matt Goss, from Australia, finished second to the brilliant Brit Mark Cavendish in last year's world road race in Denmark.

He believes GreenEdge represents a major turning point for Australasian cycling's profile and ambitions.

"There are cultural issues in teams and, for instance, I could never be just as good as a French rider if I was in a French team, I always had to be better," said Dean. "Now there is a pathway - riders will be able to turn professional without going international. GreenEdge has major long term goals and and plans. We need to get the team up and running and the culture established."

Dean, who broke his shoulder while training in December, returns to racing action on the Tour of Sardinia late next month.