As Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish seek cycling immortality on the roads of France next month, Geraint Thomas will be riding around in circles in Manchester.
But the 26-year-old from Cardiff would have it no other way.
Thomas has proven himself to be a versatile and leading talent on the bike, including this season as team-mate Wiggins has won three stage races, with the Welshman providing support at Paris-Nice and the Tour de Romandie as the Londoner proved his credentials as a potential Tour de France champion.
Rather than support Wiggins in the mountains and Cavendish in the sprints when the Tour begins in Liege on June 30, Thomas will instead focus on fine-tuning preparations for success in the four-kilometre team pursuit at a second successive Olympics.
Beijing gold medal winner Thomas said: "There's no doubt at all, but I'd love to have been going to France to help them both out.
"It's just unfortunate where the Olympics and Tour falls in the year.
"I was always going to come back and ride the team pursuit. A home Olympics is massive and it's my best chance of winning a gold medal. It's always been like that.
"The team pursuit really excites me and it's something I love doing. I just can't wait to get on those boards in London now and rip it up."
Thomas completed the Giro d'Italia alongside Team Sky colleague Pete Kennaugh and the duo were both named in the Great Britain Olympic team earlier this month, with Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Andy Tennant completing the team pursuit squad.
All five have been riding on the road in the last few weeks but recently returned to the track for the first time since winning the World Championships in Melbourne in April.
The British team set a world record of three minutes 53.295 seconds there, going faster than the Beijing-winning mark.
Thomas believes the miles on the road will help the British team hold off the challenge of Australia to retain Olympic gold.
He added: "Physically from all the work we've all been doing in the last six, eight weeks, that's where we'll make a slight step forward."
Thomas anticipates the world record will fall again, and could also go twice in quick succession with the schedule dictating the first round and final take place within an hour of each other.
Thomas, who will forgo the opportunity to reclaim the national champion's jersey at the British Championships road race on Sunday to train on the track, added: "We're confident we can do that. I'm confident the Aussies can do it as well, to be honest.
"The competition now is so tight, that's going to push both teams to the limit.
"The second round will be a massive fight because you've got to win that ride to go through to the final. It (the world record) will probably go there and it will probably go again in the final.
"A big advantage for us is having five guys that could ride. If we can use five again that will be a big advantage, bringing a fresh guy in for the final."
