Bad weather two weeks ago has given Kris Hedges an unexpected chance to defend his national road race title this weekend.

The 75-mile race at Southside, St. David's, was rescheduled for this weekend after heavy rain forced a postponement on the original race date a fortnight ago.

Hedges was away racing for his team, Snow Valley, at that time, but now has a gap in his schedule and has flown in specially to compete.

"I would not have been able to make it the first time, but now is a good time for me, so I decided to come home," said Hedges, who flew in yesterday.

"I don't come home that often now, and it's always nice to race at home. This will be a good challenge for me."

The 21-year-old will be a red-hot favourite to retain the title - not just because of his experience of riding semi-pro with Snow Valley, but also based on his sensational performance at the World B Cycling Championships last month.

In the road race in China, Hedges was part of a breakaway which held its lead over the chasing pack for 90 miles and despite suffering from cramp after running out of water in the latter stages, Hedges held on to claim a remarkable fourth place.

"That was my best result to date," said Hedges. "I did not really think I had a shot at coming as close to a podium place as I did.

"I really felt I had to try and do something special because of all the support everyone had given me and the team and all the fundraising and sponsorship.

"That was the first time I've seen the association put together that sort of money."

Looking back at the race, Hedges added: "I made a good move early on and it was a good, balanced breakaway with riders from several different countries.

"Usually, breakaways like that get caught towards the end, but I just kept going and rode as hard as I could."

If Hedges is able to repeat that performance at the World Bs in two years' time, he will automatically qualify for the Olympics. The top seven will book a place in the Athens Games. To achieve that is high on his list of goals.

The young rider has hardly had a break since the Worlds, having competed for Snow Valley in a stage race in New England and two more in western Canada.

And the day after he flies back to the US on Monday, he faces his most gruelling race to date, the six-stage Tour de Toona in Pennsylvania.

"I've done three-day stage races before in category C, but this will be the first time I've done six days," said Hedges. "It's a big step for me and it's going to be a challenge.

"It's one of the few stage races that is still six stages on the east coast and (retired Bermudian professional cyclist) Elliot (Hubbard) came second there in 1998, so it would be nice to do well."

Hedges felt Bermuda team-mate Steve Millington would provide the toughest challenge for him on Sunday, with Greg Hopkins also likely to be in the mix. The race starts at 8.00 a.m.