Cycling Australia has announced the final selection for upcoming World Championships in Ponferrada, where their team will be regarded one of the biggest contenders to bring the rainbow jersey home.

Australia will line-up with nine-man roster at the start of the World Championships road race held on September 28 in Ponferrada, and even though leader of the squad hasn’t been officially appointed, Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) should be their best card to play.

In-form Australian champion became the first rider to go away with victories in both Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and Montreal one year, and left no doubts that he was the strongest rider in both races. His impressive showdown immediately elevated him to a role of the biggest favorite in a chase for the rainbow jersey and many teams will do their very best to avoid a sprint from reduced group. However, the 34-year old Australian has proved on many occasions, last time in Liege-Bastogne-Liege this year, that he is not an easy man to drop even on the most demanding hilly courses.

While Gerrans will be watched very closely by or rivals, Australia will line-up at the start with several other options. Even though Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) slightly disappointed with his performance at the Vuelta a Espana, the 25-year old sprinter still managed to claim a stage victory and enjoyed short stint as a race leader. As chasing various jerseys turned out to be his specialty this season, Orica rider will be another option for Australians if everything comes down to a bunch sprint.

If the hilly route in Ponferrada turns out to be more demanding than expected – and several teams will be highly interested in making the race as hard as possible – Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) should be another of their protected riders as this year’s parcours are tailor made for the 37-year old veteran. Even though Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE) will enter the race in a supporting role, he will be expected to ride aggressively and join breakaways if the race gets really hard as he proved to be the right man for the job finishing within top ten last year in Florence.

Relentless Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol), Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling), Matthew Hayman (Orica-GreenEDGE), Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) will complete the squad, with the latter also representing Australia in the individual time trial.

Australian squad for the 2014 World Championships

Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge)
Rohan Dennis (BMC) Road Race and Time Trial
Cadel Evans (BMC)
Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge)
Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol)
Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling)
Matt Hayman (Orica-GreenEdge) 
Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge)
Rory Sutherland (Tinkoff-Saxo-Bank)