Australia goes into the World Championships with one of the strongest teams and two of the favourites on their 9-rider roster. With team tactics difficult to handle, Orica-GreenEDGE sports director Matt White compares Michael Matthews and Simon Gerrans to Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert and expect the Australians to have a tactic that is very similar to the one used by the Belgian team.

After his two splendid wins in the GP Quebec and Montreal, Simon Gerrans had flown up the bookmakers’ list of favourites for the World Road Race Championships. With less than a week to the big battle for the rainbow jersey, the Australian is now right at the top of the list.

However, Gerrans finds himself in a tricky situation in the Australian team as he is not the sole leader. His Orica-GreenEDGE teammate Michael Matthews showed great condition in the Vuelta a Espana, winning a stage and wearing the leader’s jersey for a few days, and he goes into the race with a boosted confidence too.

That means that the Australians have at least two cards to play. The course in Ponferrada has been heavily debated and until the first road races have been held, nobody really knows what to expect. Some have described it as a perfect fit for strong sprinters like John Degenkolb, Nacer Bouhanni, Alexander Kristoff, Peter Sagan and Matthews while others regard it as one for classics riders like Alejandro Valverde, Michal Kwiatkowski, Fabian Cancellara, Philippe Gilbert, Greg Van Avermaet and Gerrans.

This leaves the Australians with a card to play in any scenario but it also raises the question about which tactic to use. Should they try to make the race hard for the sprinters or try to set up Matthews for a sprint from a reduced peloton?

Even if Matthews is still in contention, it may be difficult to decide who to support. Gerrans has won sprints from smaller groups in the past and at the end of a long race he may be a better choice than Matthews who usually mix it up in bunch sprints.

Orica-GreenEDGE sports director Matt White plays no role in the Australian federation and so has no influence on the tactic but he has an intimate knowledge of both the Australian captains. He compares the Australian team to the Belgian which also has two cards to play.

“When you look at it, Michael Matthews is actually faster than Simon Gerrans,” he told CyclingQuotes after the team time trial. “Simon has a very good track record in winning sprints, probably even better than Michael. I don’t know what tactics they are going to have but they are both in great shape.

“I think there are not too many countries who are interested in a sprint. The problem is going to be to control the race. The Italians, the Spaniards are going to make it hard. The Dutchmen haven’t got a sprinter. I think the Australian team is similar to the Belgian team. They’ve got Gilbert and Boonen and we’ve got Gerrans and Matthews so I think we will have similar tactics.”

Asked whether Gerrans would be riding aggressively in the race, White suggested that it could be part of the plan.

“That would be one idea, he said. “But of course aggressively means last lap or even last climb.”

Australia last won the road race title in 2009 when Cadel Evans took the win in Mendrisio.