Nicki Pedersen begins his bid for more world title glory in Sweden on Saturday night.

And the Eastbourne Eagles No. 1 knows he has a battle on his hands.

All the home support in Stockholm's Olympic Stadium will be for Tony Rickardsson, who is chasing one-time Eastbourne rider Ivan Mauger's record of six world titles.

And the smart money this year is on an Australian winning the championship for the first time since Jack Young, amazingly more than half a century ago.

The Down Under men have a trio of riders in Jason Crump, Leigh Adams and Ryan Sullivan aiming to finish on top of the world come October.

For Pedersen, and the rest, the world title is no longer a fast track to glory. Since the F1-style Grand Prix season took the place of one-off finals, it has become a long haul.

The odds are against Pedersen retaining the title. Rickardsson apart, no rider has won it more than once since the Grand Prix system was introduced in 1995.

Pedersen won last year be-cause he was the most consistent rider. His victory in the British Grand Prix at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium was his only success in nine meetings, which was one more than Mark Loram managed when he was crowned champion in 2000.

Sweden wasn't a happy hunting ground for Pedersen last year. He failed to make it through to the semi-finals in either the Swedish Grand Prix, which was staged at Avesta, or the Scandinavian event in Goth-enburg, both of which were won by Sullivan.

But he believes his preparation this time is spot on.

"If someone is going to beat me, they will have to be better than me. I am well prepared and ready."

Pedersen is happy with his current form, despite a stuttering start with Eastbourne and losing the Danish title to Bjarne Pedersen.

And he rejects any idea that his rivals will have a head start on him because Eastbourne have ridden fewer matches than any other English team.

"I have been riding a lot in Sweden and Poland, as well as in England, so that is not a problem for me."

Tomorrow could also be a de-fining moment for another Eastbourne rider. Edward Kennett will be in action in the British under-21 championship.