Triple Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins believes he will soon be competing in the Tour de France as part of the first Team GB outfit.
British cycling is on a high after a superb medal haul at the Beijing Games.
Dave Brailsford, British Cycling's performance director, says the next step is to produce a British team that can be competitive on Le Tour.
And Wiggins said: "I think it will happen. We have got the talent so it is definitely likely now."
Wiggins, who earned a third and a fourth-place finish in separate stages of last year's tour, will be competing for Garmin-Chipotle next summer - but has left the door open to join up with Team GB should that dream become a reality.
"They are in the early stages of putting that together and it would be phenomenal if it does," he said. "You need the right team - and a sponsor who is going to put up £8m a year (to cover costs), and they appear to have that.
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"We already have the back-up team with Dave Brailsford, who has put this whole thing together for British cycling, and (head coach) Shane Sutton.
"Then of course you need the riders and there are enough of us out there."
Mark Cavendish would obviously be a key rider of any future GB Team following his haul of four stage victories in 2008, and Wiggins remains hopeful of emulating his fellow countryman on Le Tour next year.
"I just want to win a stage and take the yellow jersey for a while," he said.
"I have been within a couple of kilometres of winning a stage so it is definitely achievable. I have the ability to do it, it is just that it is so different to the track."
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