DOUBLE Olympic Games gold medalist Geraint Thomas is ready to claim a British Cycling National Road and Time Trial Championships jersey next week - and wear it with pride a week later on the Tour de France. Cardiff-born Thomas, 27, wants to sharpen himself up for the legendary stage race by tackling both the Time Trial and Road Race competitions at this year's Championships, being staged around Monmouthshire. The Championships are the centrepiece of this year's Abergavenny Festival of Cycling which starts on Monday June 23 with a Film Night and includes a Hill Climb from Abergavenny Leisure Centre (Tuesday), Mountain Bike events on Wednesday and, after the National Time Trial Championships, the annual Friday night Welsh Open Criterrium in the town centre plus the huge Championship Sportive from Bailey Park on Saturday June 28. Team Sky rider Thomas won the National Road Race in 2010 and wore his red, white and blue jersey around Le Tour that year and at every race for the next twelve months. Now, after being named as one of the entrants to the both National races - the Time Trial on Thursday June 26 and the Road Race, which starts and finishes in Abergavenny on Sunday June 29, Thomas, who was second to Sir Bradley Wiggins in 2011, wants another domestic title. Taking a break from training, he said that having the jersey, "Definitely gives you a boost in that you are representing Britain in the Tour (de France). "To have the Nationals in Wales and on our own roads gives me extra motivation. It is also a bonus that it is just up the road from my home. If it was in Scotland or something and only a week from the Tour, then it starts to get a bit much to do. "So it is nice not to be too stressed about it and have two good hit-outs before the Tour. I will be riding both because I want to do a bit of work on my time trialing anyway and this course is technical as well as up and down." Thomas, who won track cycling gold in the Team Pursuit at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Games, said,"In Team Sky, we would, obviously, want one of our guys to win it to the extent that I would not work with someone like Cav (defending champion Mark Cavendish) to chase down a team-mate if they were away. "But if the race is the same as when I won it, it will be every man for himself. You have to be in the race from the start because it is not like a normal pro race in which you wait until the end for it to go faster and faster. "The Nationals start fast - and keep going! Once you are in the front (of the lead group), it is easier to control your race because you don't want to be playing 'catch-up' all the time. You have to keep on the pedals all the time - then it is all out at the end." Manx Missile Cavendish is, of course, the sprint king of world cycling, having taken an incredible 25 Tour de France stage wins, four of them in successive years up to 2012. But the Nationals Road Race course around Monmouthshire, even without the famous Tumble Mountain climb, is a tough challenge with some long, slow hills to grind up. Would this be too much for Cavendish, if he decides to defend his title? Thomas thinks he will be ok. "I think the course will suit him. It will be a long day, as it always is in the Nationals, but there are more lumps in the Tour and I don't think it is beyond him at all." And the Welsh ace is going to give his all to win a National jersey, and when asked who he fancies to win it, Thomas said, "Me, hopefully!" The National Time Trial Championships begin on Thursday at 1.40pm with the men's under-23 race, followed by a glittering array of Olympic Games gold medalists in the Elite Women's Race at 2.15pm. The Elite Men - including Sir Bradley Wiggins - start at 6.30pm. The Welsh Open Criterriums run from 5.30pm to 9pm on Friday June 27, with the Championship Sportive beginning at 9am through to 11am on Saturday June 28 before the Elite Women's Road Race takes place at 9am on Sunday June 29, followed in the afternoon by the Elite Men's race. Online entries to the Championship Sportive close today (Friday June 20). For more information on any of the events next week, go to http://www.nationalroadchampis.co.uk">www.nationalroadchampis.co.uk and http://www.abergavennyfestivalofcycling.co.uk">www.abergavennyfestivalofcycling.co.uk