Juliette Lavos will lead the French national team in the elite women's road race at this weekend's UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong.

However, she indicated that it could be a completely different race if the Dutch national team's Annemiek Van Hulten is forced to sit out due to an injury sustained in a fall in Wednesday's mixed relay TTT.

"I think it will be a completely different race and we will have to look at other strategies and possibilities," Lovace told the press in the mixed zone after the mixed team time trial, in which France finished seventh, 58 seconds behind the new Swiss world champion.

The elite U23 women's combined road race will be held over a 164.3 km course. The course includes an opening loop with a climb up Mount Keira (6.5 km, 6.2%) and six smaller loops with a climb up Mount Pleasant (1.1 km, 8.6%), finishing along the coast in Wollongong.

Van Breuten, who won the road race world title in 2019 with a daring 104km solo attack in Yorkshire, has won overall titles at the Giro d'Italia Donnay, Tour de France Femme, and Serratigit Challenge by La Vuelta After a remarkable season, she was favored to win a second road race title.

She set her sights on the World Championships as her final goal of the season, but a disappointing 7th place in last weekend's individual time trial and a big crash in the mixed relay TTT on Wednesday left her with no chance of a second title.

The Dutch National Team announced that Van Vleuten was taken to the hospital, where doctors confirmed a stable fracture in her elbow, and that her entry in Saturday's elite women's road race will be decided later in the week.

The Dutch team includes Marianne Vos, Demi Vollering, Florche McKay, time trial world champion Ellen van Dijk, national road champion Liejeanne Marx, and the team's only rider under 23 Shirin van Unrooy, makes it one of the strongest teams on paper.

Audrey Biernik, Coralie Demay, Marie Le Net, Evita Mujic, Gladys Verhulst, and Jade Veer are part of the strongest French team in years. Audrey Cordon-Lago was scheduled to compete in the World Championships, but a week before leaving for Australia she suffered a stroke and is now resting pending surgery and further treatment.

Lovace said he felt better in the mixed relay TTT than he did in last weekend's individual time trial, where he finished 11th, and that the road race course suited him.

"It's hard. If Anne-Mike is in good shape, she will probably go. I think it will be tough, but I like the course. If it only had one steep climb, I would say it's not for me. But it's six climbs, so it might be a little too much for a puncher.

Lovace expects a small field to finish in Wollongong due to the difficulty of the circuit, and the team will support her and Mujic to contend in the finals, hoping for a medal.

"I'm confident, and I want to save me and Evita [Mujic] as long as I can, and me and Evita will be in the final. Everyone is motivated and I feel that confidence and that's what motivates me."

"I want to give it my all for a medal. It's the World Championships and I think I have to test myself."