Fresh from his impressive ride at the Tour of Britain, Josh Edmondson could be one of the surprise packages in tomorrow's men's under-23 road race.
Riding for the Great Britain team, Edmondson finished 16th overall after strong showings on the race's toughest stages in Stoke-on-Trent, Caerphilly and Dartmouth.
The 20-year-old, who narrowly missed out on a medal in the junior road race in 2010, believes the Valkenburg-based circuit suits the riding style he displayed so brilliantly on home soil last week.
"I'd say it's a good course for me. It's not really that hilly. Yes, it has the climb [the Cauberg] but that isn't really too hard or too long," he said. "The team are all in good form, which gives us something to build on in the race."
Edmondson will line up alongside Scott Thwaites and Simon Yates in a team half the size of that from last year's worlds.
"That just means that we won't dictate the race as much," explains Edmondson. "But that's similar to how the GB team rode the Tour of Britain. We did not go there to set the pace in the bunch or make the race.
"If we start targeting positions that may be a bit ambitious. We've just got to look out for each other throughout the race, and hopefully we can be involved at the finish."
With interest in the Bergamo-based Briton increasing, the former British Cycling Olympic Development Programme rider appears well-placed to continue his rise through the ranks.
"I like living in Italy. It's almost an escape. I can do my own thing as long as I need to, and if Keith [Lambert] and Chris [Newton] want me to do a race for Great Britain they'll tell me in advance.
"My Colpack team have had a lot of success developing riders throughout the years, and you can see how their system works. It's like a version of [BC's Olympic] Academy [Programme] on the road. It's difference in some ways, but it's very much the same in others.
"It's helped me a lot so far, and ideally I would live to have one more year in a system like that to help with my development," he added.
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Road World Championships 2012: Schedule
Full programme of events
Road World Championships 2012: Reports/results
Martin beats Phinney to world time trial title
Live text coverage of men's time trial
Live text coverage of women's time trial
Disappointment for Pooley in women's time trial
Barker claims junior world time trial title
Under-23 and junior men time trials
Omega Pharma-QuickStep and Specialized-Lululemon claim Worlds TTT
Road World Championships 2012: Photo galleries
Elite men's time trial by Graham Watson
Elite women's time trial by Graham Watson
Junior women's time trial by Graham Watson
Under-23 and junior men's time trials by Graham Watson
Team time trials by Graham Watson
6 ways riders are making their bikes lighter at the Tour of the Alps
Is it time we all just bought gravel bikes rather than road bikes and be done with it?
