Substitute Beijing with Glasgow, the Olympic Games with the Commonwealth and the name Nicole Cooke with Geraint Thomas, and you get another iconic Welsh sporting moment.
It was Cooke who sparked a British Olympic gold rush as she fought back after losing ground on the final corner in a deluge under the shadow of the Great Wall of China to sprint past her breakaway companions to become the first Welsh gold medallist since equestrian eventer Richard Meade 36 years earlier and Wales’ first women’s individual champion.
Fast forward six years to the Commonwealths and a vicious attack from Thomas on a steep climb left fellow escapees Jack Bauer and Scott Thwaites floundering in his wake as the rain poured, adding to the drama.
It didn’t end then as the 28-year-old suffered a puncture with just under 6km remaining and it seemed to take an eternity for the neutral service mechanic to change the front wheel.
But Thomas’ lead was large enough for him to stay ahead and claim one of the most popular gold medals of the Commonwealth Games.
It was fitting he became the first Welshman to win a Commonwealth cycling gold medal and only the third Welsh person, behind 2002 women’s road race winner Cooke and 1990 sprint queen Louise Jones.
For Cooke, whose exploits on the road far outweigh the achievements of any British man, and Thomas have been the catalyst for the astonishing rise of Welsh cycling over the last few years with a glut of top teenage talent, such as double Glasgow medal-winner Elinor Barker and 18-year-old road sensation Scott Davies, following in their wheel-tracks.
While Cooke was a ruthless competitor and winner from day one who accepted nothing less than first, Thomas is acknowledged for his unselfish worke for the likes of past Tour de France champions Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, and former world champion Mark Cavendish.
Wiggins and Cavendish both hailed his unstinting efforts in their respective autobiographies and his willingness to put his ambitions on hold in the service of others despite possessing the talent to be a more regular winner.
In pictures...Thomas wins Commonwealth gold
Thomas might have been a twice-Olympic champion in the team pursuit on the track but on the road, he’s the hard man who provides the vital assist.
Glasgow provided the setting with a bronze medal in the men’s time trial before he delivered in the road race. You could see how much it meant to him as he pointed to the word Wales on his jersey and punched his chest after triumphing in a war of attrition on wet, treacherous and demanding terrain.
Aggression was etched on his face and when Thomas has that ‘look’ his rivals had better look out. He wore it on the dangerous cobbles during the Tour de France as he waited for and then towed his Sky team-mate Richie Porte towards the leaders with a devastating display of power and bravery.
Thomas spent two of the three weeks of the Tour working for defending champion Froome, who crashed out of the race, and Porte.
After ‘Tasmanian Devil’ Porte cracked in the French Alps, Thomas got a chance to bid for a stage victory but, typically, ended up doing most of the work in a breakaway to give team-mate Mikel Nieve a chance to win.
Thomas’ efforts during the Tour meant he was ‘cooked’ when it came to tackling the Pyrenees in the final week and he suffered horribly in the heat but still managed to finish a career and Welsh-best 22nd.
In cycling’s mainland European power-base, the Commonwealths mean next to nothing but his patriotism and desire to wear the Welsh jersey was why he flew into Glasgow a day after a gruelling Tour had ended in Paris, and why he gave it everything for his country.
Still fatigued, he admitted feeling terrible and considered stopping during the early miles of the Commonwealth road race but rode through the pain and into the annals of Welsh sporting folklore.
Once the break was whittled down to three riders and despite the presence of New Zealander Bauer, who came within metres of winning a stage in France following a long breakaway, there was only going to be one winner, barring mishap.
“Geraint was the strongest. It wasn’t a case of where he would hit us but when. We knew there was nothing we could do about it,” confided English rider Thwaites.
Thomas, in an inspiring message on his Facebook page, said: “Good things come to those that wait; better things come to those that don’t give up; and the best things come to those who just believe ... #teamwales.”
His day was made complete when he was asked to carry the Welsh flag in the closing ceremony, proudly declaring: “It’s going to be just as good as winning the race.”
So what does the future hold for Thomas, who spends some of the year living and training in Monaco, after turning down lucrative offers from other teams in order to extend his contract with Team Sky for another two years?
Can he become or be allowed to develop into a genuine contender for the Tour de France yellow jersey or will his love of racing the one-day cobbled Spring Classics of northern Europe and team duties continue to take preference?
Next year should see him have more opportunities to race for himself in week-long events – he crashed out of Paris-Nice this year while second and pressing for the lead – but he is 28 and the clock is ticking against him when it comes to starting the Grand Tours of France, Italy and Spain as a protected rider.
“The team and myself are on a very similar wavelength with targeting the week stage races in order to try and get some results in them,” said Thomas.
“I just want to be consistently up there in those races and try and get a win somewhere. Paris-Nice was close this year.
“I want to do the Classics as well because I still really enjoy them but I want to be a stage race rider who does the Classics rather than the other way around.”
His versatility, like that of James Hook in rugby, could count against him and the earliest he could get a crack at a Tour, the Giro D’Italia or Vuelta a Espana, might be 2016.
But, by that time, Sky leader Froome might have another Tour de France triumph on his CV and the British team might have signed the prodigiously-talented Yates twins, the 21-year-old brothers being two of the hottest properties in world cycling with prolific winner Adam already up there with the biggest names in the sport on the climbs and Simon having shone brightly during his Tour debut.
And France’s rising stars Warren Barguil, victor of two stages at last year’s Vuelta, and Thibaut Pinot, third at last month’s Tour and winner of the white jersey for best under-25 finisher, are both purported to be on the radar of Sky.
“With Froome in the team he’ll always be the man for the Tour and that’s fine for me. A top 10 could be possible if I had a protected role but then a team like Sky don’t go into a Grand Tour just to get in the top 10, they want to win the race,” pointed out realist Thomas.
“If I got to have a go at the Giro or the Vuelta as a leader in a few years that would be great and I’d give it a good go.
“There were a couple of teams that wanted me to be their GC (general classification) man but I wouldn’t feel confident going to the Tour next year to be a leader.
“At the moment I am just thinking about the week-long stage races, like Paris-Nice, and trying to get a good result in some of those to build up the confidence. That’s where I wanted to go with my progression.
“I’ve seen how Bradley Wiggins has developed along the same path. I’m not saying I can dominate like him or win the Tour, but I want to give myself the chance.
“It may not happen at all, I may just play a supporting role and be able to do well in one-week races but the team is in a similar mind-set to me.
“That’s exciting and with the added confidence I’ve taken from this year’s Tour, I can look forward to next season.”
Asked if Thomas would eventually be capable of leading Sky into battle at the Tour, team principal Dave Brailsford, a north Walian, replied: “I don’t know.
“It’s early to say, but the next step is what he did in Paris-Nice this year. He proved his worth there. That will be the next step for him logically, focusing on week-long stage races and really trying to push to get one of those under his belt and keep progressing in that sense.”
Sky’s head of performance Tim Kerrison believes finishing in the top 10 of a Grand Tour is a possibility for Thomas but said his climbing needs to improve and he has to be more consistent in the mountains.
Brailsford summed it up when he said: “On and off the bike, Geraint is an influential member of Team Sky.
“Not only is he a strong character but he’s one of a handful of world-class riders that can do it all, whether that’s on the climbs, flat, cobbles or time trials, which proves what a valuable member of the team he is.”
And it’s those super-domestique qualities which are why he might remain a key worker rather than a Grand Tour leader at Sky.
But nearly men can have their day when they are given their head, as one of the most popular figures in cycling, in Welsh and British sport, proved with his stunning success at the Commonwealth Games.