KEY POINTS:
Julian Dean will join a small but elite band of New Zealand cyclists when he lines up for his fourth Tour de France beginning on Saturday night (NZT).
But becoming the third Kiwi to race four times in the grandest tour of all will pale in comparison with winning a stage - something he feels he has the form and opportunity to do this year.
The other New Zealanders who rode four tours were Tino Tabac (1971, 1972, 1973, 1976 - did not finish in all) and Eric Mackenzie (1982, 1983 dnf, 1985, 1986).
Dean, who finished the tours in 2004, 2006 and 2007, told NZPA from his home in Ganida, southern Spain, a new team and a new role for the tour had given him huge motivation to tackle the race involving 180 riders from 20 teams.
The 95th tour begins in Brest and takes in 3500km of 10 flat stages, five mountain stages, four medium mountain stages and two time trials and ends in Paris on July 27.
In his previous three attempts, he was the lead-out rider for Credit Agricole teammate Thor Hushovd in the sprints, doing it so well, the Norwegian hailed Dean as the "greatest lead-out rider in the world".
But he starts with a new team this year - Garmin-Chipotle, for whom he will be the sprinter.
" Training has been going well and I am feeling positive," said Dean, 33, who is expected to represent New Zealand in the road race at the Beijing Olympics.
"It is quite a bit of a different approach this year because I am not going there directly as a lead out rider but as the sprinter.
" I will have two or three guys on the team helping me out and it's definitely a new motivation.
"It is something to look forward to, to have your own opportunities to win a stage."
Swedish rider Magnus Backstedt and Scotsman David Millar, who held the King of the Mountain jersey for a time in last year's tour, would help pace and lead him over the final hectic few kilometres into the sprint finish of the flat stages.
Backstedt, twice, and Millar, three times, have previously won stages on the tour.
Dean can draw confidence from placing fifth and ninth in sprint finishes at the Giro despite nursing injury from a crash early in the race.
And after a "disastrous" Tour of Zeeland two weeks ago in the Netherlands, crashing twice in the three-day race, he felt he was "finally back on solid ground again after floundering for what seemed like way too long".
"Over the last week I have felt everything starting to slide into place."
Dean said his best chance of winning a stage would be in the first five to seven days before the tour headed into the hilly and mountainous stages.
"We won't see a flat stage after that until the last two or three days of the tour."
Asked how he felt to be just the third Kiwi to line up four times for the tour, he said: "It's always nice to do that (equal a record) but even better to go there and win a stage, you know."
As the current New Zealand road race champion, Dean will proudly display the Silver Fern on his blue and orange team jersey.
"People definitely take notice of a national champions jersey - they're easy to pick out and they seem to have a kind of respect for them,"
With the tour uppermost in his mind, it was too early for Dean to focus on the Olympics which begin just 10 days after the tour in Beijing.
"It will be good preparation for the Olympics.
"I did the tour and the Olympics in 2004 so I'm not afraid of that at all," said Dean who finished 15th in Athens.
"I just have to ensure I get 100 per cent quality recovery between the tour and the Olympics, just keeping calm and keeping cool through that period."
- NZPA
