Gambling Geraint Thomas is only thinking of number one

Sitting in the foyer of a hotel room in Adelaide, Australia, two decades on, Thomas can picture the scene perfectly except for what exactly he was watching on the screen.

In fact, despite being one of Britain's leading cyclists he cannot recall Chris Boardman winning gold in the individual pursuit at those Games.

"I remember watching the athletes but I don't remember any of the details really, I was only six," he says looking very fresh despite having just ridden 90 miles in temperatures hitting the 40-degree mark, the hottest he has ever known.

While the details are far from vivid, the Games clearly planted a seed in the mind of a malleable kid already keen on riding his bike and, subconsciously perhaps, it has played a part in deciding his 2012.

He was the highest-ranked Briton at the 2011 Tour de France in 31st place but will miss this year's race to focus on his bid for glory at the Olympic velodrome in the team pursuit.

Thomas and his friend Ed Clancy are set to spearhead the team having been part of the quartet who blitzed the field to take gold in Beijing. Since then Australia, New Zealand and Russia have matched a changing British line-up and, in some cases, surpassed it.

After the opening road race of 2012, the Tour Down Under, in which he is competing until Sunday, Thomas will return to Manchester for three weeks of track training and start the proper push to the Games.

"At the end of the day," a phrase he dots throughout the conversation for emphasis, "I want to stand on the podium and win gold. I feel I'm doing it for the right reasons. It's my decision and I honestly think I'd kick myself if I didn't do it."

The dream is all well and good but surely there is a gamble with putting everything on hold for an event where the margin between first and even fourth is set to be exceptionally tight.

"If I don't win gold, it's not the end of the world," he says. "I'm alive, I'm not under fire fighting in Afghanistan for example. The reality is there's a lot more to life than racing around a wooden, banked oval. But, of course, winning the gold is the aim and I'd be massively disappointed if I didn't."

Despite not having the huge public profile of Mark Cavendish, the 25-year-old pipped his new Sky team-mate to the title of British Olympic Association's Olympic cyclist of 2011.

Thomas was part of the team that guided Cavendish to road race gold at the World Championships in Copenhagen last September.

However, Thomas won't be riding for Cavendish at the Games. In a sport where the Welshman has often had to put his own ambitions on hold to help team-mates, he has opted for the best, more selfish, choice for him.

"At the end of the day, I still want to come away with the gold medal and, while it's a team sport, it's Cav who will get the gold medal in the road race and no one else," he adds.

Thomas will ride for Cavendish at certain races this year and he is happy to do so. For one, his colleague is the fastest man on two wheels and, for two, he makes riding for him a delight.

"Cav is brilliant in that he always thanks his team-mate and it's really genuine, he really appreciates the work the other riders do," he says.

Thomas will ride some of the Classics - cycling's spring one-day races - as well as the Giro d'Italia this year and admits it will be tough to watch on television as Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins go for Tour de France glory.

When the Olympics are over, he makes no secret of his preference: "It's always the road."

His next goal is the World Cup event at the Olympic velodrome which starts on February 17, when Britain will test their credentials against the other cycling powerhouses.

For Thomas, though, there is the danger of fatigue having had virtually no winter break, instead moving straight onto the track towards the latter part of the year.

For now there are few signs he is feeling the rigours of his punishing schedule even though it can be hard trying to balance his career with life with his girlfriend Sara. They spend whatever time together they can at Thomas's home in Altrincham, not far from the Manchester velodrome where he will increasingly be spending his time this year with the track in mind.

Like many other athletes, London is now the driving force and, for Thomas, it's the reason he has stayed on track.

"If the Olympics weren't in London I've got to be honest and say I wouldn't have much enthusiasm for it," he says.

Five Games on from when he was first hooked as a youngster, he will hope to be beamed to millions of households across the UK with a gold medal around his neck and inspire a new generation of six year olds with a better memory than him.