After being blown off the road by strong wind gusts in yesterday's time trial, Rohan Dennis' participation has been uncertain for Sunday's road race at the Australian National Championships. As he has no major injuries, his team expects him to be on the start line, with the Tour Down Under remaining a major goal for the talented Australian.

Rohan Dennis has prepared meticulously for the start of his 2014 season and was hoping to kick it off with a bang when he lined up for the Australian time trial championships yesterday. He was, however, blown off the road by a strong gust of wind and saw his race come to a premature end.

As we reported yesterday, the accident made him uncertain for Sunday's road race which will be held on the hilly circuit in Buninyoung and which should suit him well. At that point, it was still unclear whether anything had been broken but he was suffering from pain in his hip and ankle.

Luckily, Dennis appears to have escaped any major injuries and unless something unexpected happens, he will be ready to go up against the mighty Orica-GreenEDGE on Sunday. His team manager Jonathan Vaughters confirms that he will likely be on the start line when the battle for the green and gold jersey kicks off.

"He's ok, he's not happy and he's lost some skin, but no broken bones or concussion," Vaughters told Cyclingnews. "Our assumption is that he will ride the road race, unless something worsens. You never know, but right now we are planning on him riding in the road race."

The road nationals is, however, not Dennis' major goal in the first part of the season. With defending champion Tom-Jelte Slagter preferring to stay in the Netherlands for the birth of his first daughter, Dennis has been given the leadership role at Garmin-Sharp for the Tour Down Under which kicks off on January 21.

Garmin-Sharp won the 2011 edition of the race with Cameron Meyer and the team will do its utmost to repeat that performance. Dennis has prepared specifically for the event and still plans to go for the win in the six-day race.

"The goal will be to win the race," Vaughters told Cyclingnews. "I know that he’s incredibly well prepared for it and incredibly motivated, being from Adelaide. He’s our leader for that race and the team that we’re sending is there to support him. Until he tells me otherwise we’re sticking with that plan."

Michael Hepburn from Orica-GreenEDGE won the time trial title.