Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) crashed hard in the time trial at the Australian national championships but has recovered sufficiently to start the Tour Down Under tomorrow. Being the leader of his Garmin-Sharp team, the talented Australian is still targeting the GC in the first WorldTour race of the year.

When defending champion Tom-Jelte Slagter decided to stay in Europe for the birth of his first child, Rohan Dennis was quick to put his hand up to take over the leadership role of the Garmin-Sharp team in the Tour Down Under. After finishing 5th and winning the young rider's jersey in 2012 while riding for the UniSA national team, the talented Australian had already proved that he is well-suited to his home race and he was given the go to target the GC in the race.

Those plans unravelled when he crashed hard in the time trial at the national championships. Being in excellent condition, Dennis was devastated as he felt the tumble that was caused by a very strong wind gust, had derailed a big chance to take the green and gold jersey that was ultimately won by Michael Hepburn.

He lined  up in the road race a few days later but started to feel terrible after a few laps on the hard circuit. At the end of lap 12, he called it quits and headed home to prepare for the Tour Down Under.

Yesterday Dennis rode the People's Choice Classic criterium which precedes the WorldTour race and he is now feels sufficiently recovered to go for the win in his big home race.

“I think the teams will be still wary of me,” he told Cyclingnews. “Teams will sort of see how I’m going after having the big crash at Nationals. I think they may just keep an eye on me and not let me do anything, and if do decide to do something, they will know my legs are good. So I have to weigh the risks over the rewards, but I will pick my opportunity and you can count on that.”

Dennis will be joined by climber Lachlan Morton, sprinter Steel von Hoff and Jack Bauer, Nathan Haas, Thomas Dekker and Caleb Fairly in the race that starts tomorrow. You can read our preview here.