British star Nicole Cooke will aim for a second road race Olympic Gold medal next summer in London. She has abandoned any idea of a combined track goal, riding in the team pursuit.
"It's off the agenda for this season. I had to work out my priorities and I felt I wasn't really making the improvements that would have made me competitive in the Great Britain team," Cooke told the Guardian newspaper.
"It showed just how specialised it is when you get near the top in any discipline. It was going to be a big challenge to do all the work I needed to on the track to get to that level."
Cooke won a gold medal in the road race at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 ahead of Swede Emma Johansson. Later that year, she also won here first senior-level World Championships title.
Her successes on the road, including second at last year's World Championships in Australia, have convinced her to put her track aspirations on hold. She had passed November and December training with the British team pursuit team to evaluate the decision.
"I did the right thing, answered the question, it's doable but the improvements I needed to put me among the other girls weren't there, so I felt I was best to concentrate on what I'm good at," added Cooke. "The door is open for me to come back at a time when I'm in very good form on the road to see what that translates into on the track."
Similar to past seasons, Cooke will race the Spring Classics and the Giro d'Italia. She rides for new team, Mario Cipollini-Giordana and will support Italian Tatiana Guderzo at the Giro.
Cooke's other goal is to work with her British team-mates to keep their nation high in the rankings. A top ranking will allow them to race with a four-woman team.
"If we can keep in the top six in the world until May 2012 we will qualify a four-woman team for the road race, which is an exciting position to be in."
Emma Pooley, Sharon Laws and Lizzie Armitstead have helped Cooke push Great Britain to third in the rankings. Pooley won the World Championships time trial last year.