Next month's championships will be the fifth world title event for the Canberran.

Cooper went to two worlds as a junior before chronic fatigue syndrome forced him into an unwanted five-year break.

But he was back on the bike in 2005 and made the Australian team for his first senior world titles in that year. He finished 73rd in the elite men's race.

In 2007, he went again but dropped a place back to 74th.

This year the 30-year-old wants to break that barrier.

''Realistically I'm aiming for a top 30 but I'd be happy with a top 50, definitely I'll just go as hard as I can,'' Cooper said. ''Both of those didn't go very well at all, this year I'm concentrating on all the things I did wrong. Part of it was mechanical and part of it was mental, so I'm making sure everything is right.

''Now also with the cold it's really important just to keep healthy too, especially coming from 40-degree heat in Japan, coming back to this is a bit of a shock to the system.''

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times