A Sussex professional road race team are gearing up for next year's Tour de France.

The Uckfield-based DFL Cycling News Litespeed team are hoping to be involved when Le Tour comes to England for the first time since 1994.

They will compete in 61 races in 11 countries this season from China to the United States in the third tier of professional road race cycling.

A top ten finish will result in promotion to Pro Continental level, one below the Pro Tour.

They hope to impress Le Tour organisers who leave spaces for PC teams to compete in one of the world's great sporting events.

National champion Russell Downing is DFL's No. 1 rider in a squad of 13.

Five of the team will compete in this month's Commonwealth Games.

Downing, 28, the current British road race champion, competes for England in Melbourne.

Yanto Barker, 26, who will represent Wales, is the only rider retained from the DFL team which debuted last year. He was their top rider with 12 of the team's 15 top-ten finishes on the European circuit when DFL were 28th overall.

Barker was also the best British finisher on the Tour of Britain.

DFL's other Games riders include Matt Brammerer (Wales), Alex Coutts (Scotland) and Jeremy Vennell (New Zealand).

Team coach is Belgian Danny Willems, who won four stages of Le Tour.

The team is supported by sponsorship worth £180,000.

Manager Nick Collins said: "We have been able to beef up our schedule considerably since last year thanks to the backing we are getting from Cycle News in Australia and American company Litespeed.

"We are delighted to have attracted such a superb group of riders. The fact so many will be involved in the Commonwealth Games shows the standard. I expect a couple of them to medal in Melbourne.

"They have been tempted by a good programme which gives them a high level of racing in a lot of countries."

DFL had a solid 2005 but Collins believes lessons have been learned and the team can improve.

He said: "We had a strong team and got some reasonable results but lacked exposure.

"We need to work harder on the media side to heighten our profile.

"If we can achieve that and get even better results it would give us a better chance of making the Tour de France.

"It would be fantastic to be involved in THE event on the cycling calendar, especially as it is coming to England next year for the first time since 1994.

"It has over a billion viewers for three weeks and is the ultimate challenge.

"No British team or rider have ever won it. Hopefully we have started on the road to achieving those goals."