ALEX Dowsett is preparing for an Australian challenge and hoping for a chance to compete at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Maldon cyclist will be competing for Team Sky in Australia next week in a WorldTour event.

Dowsett will be part of a seven-man team for the Santos Tour Down Under, the opening race of the 2012 season.

The six-stage event runs from January 17-22 in and around Adelaide and South Australia and is precluded by the Down Under Classic on Sunday.

Joining Dowsett will be Australian trio Chris Sutton, Mathew Hayman and 2002 winner Michael Rogers, Geraint Thomas, new signing Danny Pate and two-time Tour de France stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen.

This will be Dowsett’s second season with Team Sky and he is looking forward to the year ahead.

The 23-year-old said: “I’m really looking to build and progress on my 2011 season, which went far better than I ever could’ve imagined.

“My main hope is to simply be selected for, and ride my heart out in, the Olympics.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity which I’m striving to make selection for.

“Post Olympics I’ll reassess my goals, which will likely revolve around either the Tour of Spain or the Worlds.

“But until July/August time nothing else matters but that race around London.”

Dowsett is a member of the Great Britain Cycling team and won silver at the Time Trial in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

And racing for Team Sky, he has become National Time Trial Champion.

Dowsett feels his preparations for the Tour Down Under have gone well.

He said: “I had a solid training camp in Majorca.

“It was very structured training and I ended up completing 44 hours and 1,415 kilometres in nine days.

“So I feel I’m as prepared, if not more, than anyone else traveling from the colder European climates.

“The Aussies are in the middle of their summer and race season so they are maybe in slightly better shape but we have a good team and good morale so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t do well.”

And Dowsett believes his preparations in Australia are also going well.

He said: “I’ve been training with Edvald Boasson Hagen here.

“We have recced a lot of the key sections of the Tour, as well as getting in some solid mileage and intervals.

“The heat could be an issue but I hope by that time I will be adapted enough to cope ok.

“The new Greenedge team will be tough to beat – it is their home race and they are a new team looking to make a mark early on.

“As there is no time trial, a lot of the stages will come down to a bunch sprint.

“So I will be predominantly a worker and leadout man for Mick Rogers and Eddie BH.

“The teamwork aspect of cycling is often overlooked.

“I could be leading the race with less than one kilometre to go but my job is to deliver another rider as close to the finish line as possible.

“If we all finish in the bottom five except for one of our team-mates who wins then that’s more important than us all finishing in the top ten but not taking a win.”