If Lizzie Deignan is to enjoy a fairy-tale homecoming at the Road World Championships in Yorkshire on Saturday, she must first work out how to beat one of the best teams to have been assembled.
There is an argument that the Dutch team coached by Loes Gunnewijk are not only the greatest in cycling, but can be mentioned in the same breath as some of the greatest in all sports: the All Blacks of 2013, the United States basketball “Dream Team” of the 1990s and the Brazil football team from the 1970 World Cup.