Olympic champion Paolo Bettini will be out to prove a point this Sunday when he bids to overhaul his World Cup rival Davide Rebellin at Paris-Tours.

Rebellin, the Gerolsteiner rider who recently gained Argentine citizenship in a futile attempt to compete at last week's world road championships, leads Bettini by six points in the standings with only two races left in the series.

Bettini, the two-time World Cup winner and defending champion, did not have to go to such unpatriotic measures having already been picked for the Italy team by national team director Franco Ballerini.

Nevertheless, just as Rebellin missed out on competing in Verona because some vital documents did not arrive in time from South America, Bettini's chances of winning gold also bit the dust.

The 30-year-old Italian was forced to pull out prematurely from the men's world championship road race with a sore knee. Bettini said he is now looking forward to jumping past Rebellin to win what will be the last-ever World Cup title as the sport's ruling body proceeds with the all new UCI ProTour series.

"I'm very satisfied," Bettini said in a statement following a scan on his knee which showed no damage from his accidental collision with a car door during last Sunday's race. "I've been very lucky. Now I'm starting fresh for the last objective of the season: I want to beat Rebellin and win my third World Cup."

Bettini's victory chances for the largely flat race over 252km which favors sprinters appear to have increased in the absence of Erik Zabel, Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi and Belgian young gun Tom Boonen.

Germany's Zabel, who won Paris-Tours last year, is out after breaking a bone in his heel after he fell off a ladder at home last week. Zabel would have been one of the favorites but the 34-year-old T-Mobile sprinter ended his season only days after winning silver in the world championships behind Spanish super sprinter Oscar Freire, who could also feature on Sunday's podium in his new rainbow jersey.

Petacchi, beaten to the line last year by Zabel, is still out of action following a bout of gastroenteritis. However with other contenders throwing their hat into the ring, Bettini may be reduced to simply watching where Rebellin goes in the race - the Cofidis team's on-form Australian sprinter Stuart O'Grady, for one, is among the potential winners following his fourth place finish in Verona last week while Freire, second in 2001, has shown he can beat almost anyone on a good day.

Rebellin maintained his form in midweek with a third place finish at the Paris-Bourges semi-classic, a race which was only added to his schedule after he missed out on the Worlds.

"My form is pretty good, I worked well today," said Rebellin after coming third behind La Boulangere's French winner Jerome Pineau and Swiss rider Martin Elmiger of Phonak. "Even though I didn't manage to take part in the world championships, I'm sticking to my plan of having a successful season."

But Rebellin said that he believes the course at Paris-Tours will favor Bettini.

"I will have to stay focused; it's not really my kind of course. It's not hard enough, and Bettini will be the favorite because he's a faster sprinter,” he said. "But I hope to be there or thereabouts to keep the deficits down to a minimum ahead of the Tour of Lomabrdy."

The World Cup season closes out next Saturday with the Tour of Lombardy.

Current World Cup Standings
1. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, 314 Pts.
2. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Davitamon, 308 Pts.
3. Oscar Freire Gomez (Sp), Rabobank, 202 Pts.
4. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Cofidis, 150 Pts.
5. Michael Boogerd (Nl), Rabobank, 146 Pts.
6. Flecha Giannoni Juan Antonio (Sp), Fassa Bortolo, 140 Pts.
7. Erik Dekker (Nl), Rabobank, 137 Pts.
8. Steffen Wesemann (G), T-Mobile, 131 Pts.
9. Erik Zabel (G), T-Mobile, 108 Pts.
10. Magnus Backstedt (Swe), Alessio-Bianchi, 100 Pts.
11. Igor Astarloa Ascasibar (Sp), Lampre, 96 Pts.
12. Peter Van Petegem (B), Lotto-Domo, 95 Pts.
13. Leif Hoste (B), Lotto-Domo, 84 Pts.
14. George Hincapie (USA), U.S. Postal Service, 77 Pts.
15. Leon Van Bon (Nl), Lotto-Domo, 68 Pts.
16. Mirko Celestino (I), Saeco, 67 Pts.
17. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), T-Mobile, 50 Pts.
18. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 46 Pts.
19. Danilo Di Luca (I), Saeco, 43 Pts.
20. Romans Vainsteins (Lat), Lampre, 43 Pts.