Waikato's double Olympic cyclist Rushlee Buchanan will be chasing a slice of history in the New Zealand road championships in Napier this weekend.
Buchanan (28), the defending champion, will attempt to become the first female rider to win the road race championship four times. She shares the honour of three national titles with Meshy Holt and Cath Cheatley.
The United Healthcare Team professional is among the healthy 59-strong fields for the time trials today and road race tomorrow. The elite and under-23 men's road race is on Sunday.
''If I get No4 that will be awesome, obviously, but just to win the race is awesome in its own right. I want to win it as much as any other year.''
With the retirement of Jo Kiesanowski and the unavailability of Linda Villumsen, Buchanan is the only former winner to compete this weekend.
She will be joined by fellow Rio Olympic riders Jaime Nielsen, Georgia Williams and national criterium winner Racquel Sheath.
Riders expected to contend include Hokitika's Sharlotte Lucas, a three-time Calder Stewart Series winner; the irrepressible Karen Fulton (Tasman) and Roxsalt rider Ruby Livingstone (Auckland).
There is interest in former mountain runner and triathlete Kate McIlroy, who has moved to road cycling, signing with the Specialized Women's Team in Australia.
Buchanan is well prepared with some solid road training since the Rio Olympics but this will be her first race in six months.
''Last season all the track team were on basically the same training programme and we knew where each of us was at. But this year we have all been doing our own thing, so none of us has been road racing, which will make it really interesting,'' Buchanan said.
The championships begin with the time trial on a course around the Church Road Winery today. The elite and under-23 women compete over 20km at 10am, the under-23 men from 10.30am and the men from 11am, both over 40km.
