Pre-race favouritism has become almost a curse for the cream of Australian cycling in the national men's road race.

A solid pre-season and strong form at this week's Jayco Bay Classic criterium series make Simon Gerrans one of the riders to watch in a star-studded field for the 163km road race at Buninyong, near Ballarat, on Sunday, the highlight of the Australian road championships.

If, as expected, 30-year-old Gerrans is Team Sky's protected rider, he will have plenty of world-class support, joined by new Sky signing Michael Rogers, Mat Hayman, Chris Sutton and English rider Ben Swift.

But so many factors make this race almost impossible for a team to control, let alone for pundits to predict. It's the start of the season, so no-one quite knows which riders are "on".

The 10.2km circuit at Buninyong is tough, plus heat and wind can make the racing even harder.

While Tour de France stars such as Gerrans and Rogers head the billing, a host of domestic riders are determined to put their names in lights by winning the coveted Australian champion's jersey.

Darren Lapthorne (2007), Peter McDonald (2009) and reigning champion Travis Meyer all started as outsiders, but raced brilliantly to secure the title.

This year, several members of the Pegasus team, such as in-form Tasmanian Bernard Sulzberger and Lapthorne, will be determined to perform well after their outfit's failure to gain a pro continential licence.

"It always is a tough race and I've said many times that at the national championships you can be the strongest guy on the day by a mile," said Gerrans. "But if tactically the race doesn't pan out for you, you can be stuck back in the group with your hands tied.

"We quite often see the first break that goes away on that circuit staying away for the finish.

"It's always a little bit of a lottery - but I've prepared the best I can and I will race with what I have, hopefully it works out."

The same issues apply for the 102km women's elite road race on Saturday, except for one standout factor - Judith Arndt.

The German star cannot win the national title, but she is favoured to make history by becoming the first overseas rider to cross the line first in the Australian women's road race championship.

Arndt finished second in the Bay series this week and showed a frightening turn of speed to win the last round.

The 2004 world champion and Olympics silver medallist, one of the greatest women's cyclists in history, is simply a cut above the rest of the field.

She regularly races in the national titles, but Arndt has never boasted this sort of form so early in the year.

Defending champion Ruth Corset and 2009 winner Carla Ryan should also feature prominently. The weekend's racing at Buninyong will start on Saturday morning with the men's under-23 championship.

The nationals have attracted record entries, with an impressive total of 158 starters for the elite men's road race.

Roger Vaughan
AAP