Cycling: Trio out to grab Tour slots

Eight have been there. Seven have done that.

Many will find the names unfamiliar: Harry Watson, Tino Tabak, Paul Jesson, Eric Mackenzie, Stephen Swart, Nathan Dahlberg, Chris Jenner and Julian Dean.

The only New Zealanders to have ridden in cycling's Tour de France. Unfortunately Jesson never finished.

In the early hours of Sunday, July 5 (NZT) it's likely Hayden Roulston and less likely Greg Henderson could add two more spokes to this sparsely covered wheel.

That pair and Dean find out this week if they'll be embarking on the tour's 96th edition. It'll be raced over 23 days, covering around 3500km and consisting of 10 flat stages, eight mountain stages, two individual time trials, a team time trial and, to the screaming relief of riders' legs, two rest days.

If Dean is selected for Garmin-Slipstream it will be his fifth tour, making him New Zealand's most prolific entrant. Mackenzie and Tabak both entered four times but didn't always finish. Dean has reached the Champs-Elysees in Paris each time he's entered; in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

In cycling parlance, it's been quite a climb from pedalling in and around his parents' Waihi dairy farm on a BMX. But ask the 34-year-old if he is the country's best-ever road cyclist and he is modest.

"It's my job, it's my livelihood, there are New Zealanders who have done it before me but I'm lucky to have been around a fair while now without too many injuries."

"Fair while" translates to 11 years racing in Europe where he's now settled just outside Valencia with wife Carole and their children Tanner and Val. Dean has proven himself time and again on the roads of Europe. This culminated in six top 10 finishes on last year's Tour and, despite injuring his leg after a crash earlier in the year, his team immediately slotted him into May's Giro d'Italia.

"I was a little underdone but I feel good now. Once you have done the Tour a couple of times, experience counts for a lot. The intensity every day is not something everyone can handle so when teams find someone capable of doing it, they're more likely to include you."

He's also demonstrated sacrifice, which in cycling generally means little personal glory and few stage wins. Dean's done that, leading out Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd when he was with Credit Agricole. This year he'll work with 25-year-old American Tyler Farrar.

"Sometimes tour cycling's a hard concept for New Zealanders to understand because they don't have the familiarity with it that people in Europe do. It's very much a team-orientated sport, like when a sprinter relies on his teammates to bring him to a point of attack within 150-200 metres of the line."

Of the New Zealanders, only Jenner has won a stage on his sole tour back in 2001, but that was as part of a team time trial. Can Dean secure an individual triumph?

"I would like to have had more of my own chances but Tyler's up with the fastest in the world and deserves the respect. A lot of pressure is on him and I'm trying to coach him through it because, for sprints, you've got to stay relaxed."

Bike NZ High Performance Manager Mark Elliott says Dean is underrated.

"He was regarded as the best lead-out man in the world back with Hushovd. Julian's been out there slogging away and has got so close to the podium so many times. Athletes like him don't get the accolades but he's gone off, chased his dreams and is still a star in Europe."

"Many see the pinnacle as winning Olympic medals but that's only part of it. For a professional cyclist, winning stages in the great races is every bit as important."

Roulston, 28, earned a silver and bronze at Beijing. You get the feeling a nod to compete in Le Tour with the Cervelo team would be just as significant. Like Dean a couple of years ago, one of his jobs would be leading out Hushovd.

"I'm confident I'll be there, I can do a great job for Thor and have the services required to help Carlos [Sastre, last year's winner] in the early parts of the hard stages. The Tour was never really my dream but now it's dangled in front of me it'd be pretty huge."

Henderson's chances of riding in the Tour may hinge on whether his team decide to use him to help win the sprint stages.