Chris Froome is hoping the new-look tactics he adopted in claiming his third Tour de France title show he can be a major contender in the Olympic road race.
Froome will head to Rio next week after taking part in Sunday's RideLondon event, targeting glory in both the road race and the time trial.
But while Froome has once again proved his dominance in the Tour, he has little pedigree in one-day racing.
"It's more of a gamble, that's for sure," Froome said of the road race. "Being a one-day race, and with such small teams of five riders per nation for the bigger nations.
"It's going to be an extremely hard race to judge tactically. It's not as if we can put eight guys on the front and pull it back for the last climb.
"But I think with the team we've got we can be extremely competitive. To have a result there would be phenomenal after the Tour we've had."
Froome will tackle the road race alongside Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard, Adam Yates and Steve Cummings in the British team, with Cummings a late replacement for Peter Kennaugh and a potential wildcard for the team given his talent at attacking from breakaways.
But Froome too has shown he can do more than simply wear out rivals on summit finishes.
He showed a new side to his game in the Tour, attacking on the descent to Bagneres-de-Luchon to take yellow on stage eight, then capitalising on crosswinds on stage 11 to Montpellier before his famous jog up Mont Ventoux three days later.
That should only help him as he tries to master the unpredictability of a one-day race.
"I definitely feel I've matured a lot as a bike rider over the past couple of seasons," he said.
"I feel as if, even at this point, at the age of 31, I'm still learning so much about the sport, and I think tactically I've shown this year I've matured. I have learnt a lot and that's probably why I've been able to race the way I have this year."
Froome also plans to ride in the time trial, which could be wide open if Dutchman Tom Dumoulin - who suffered a fracture in his wrist during the Tour - is unable to compete.
"I think it's a course that suits me well," Froome said of the time trial. "There's almost 1,000 metres of climbing, it's 60 kilometres in length and it's extremely tough.
"I took bronze in London and it would be incredible to medal again this year."
Source: PA-WIRE
