Cycling was only supposed to be a bit of fun for Flora Duffy. Now she is a member of the US Collegiate All-Star team and facing a dilemma.

Her All-Star selection came on the back of a fourth-place finish in the national college championships last weekend, and means she will race in the prestigious Nature Valley Grand Prix next month.

However, first she has two triathlons to race.

Duffy is returning to the sport in two weeks' time in Mexico, racing for the first time in a year-and-a-half.

Now, though, her performances in cycling have raised new opportunities, not least being the possibility that she could make her third Olympic appearance in London in two years' time in a completely different sport.

"I hadn't really thought it about it, until the last few weeks, but possibly yeah," said Duffy yesterday. "I really enjoy cycling, and I enjoy the racing, and the lifestyle of it. But at the same time I really enjoy triathlon.

"I have my first triathlon in two weeks' time in Mexico, it's a Continental Cup, so I'm going to see how that goes. And then I'm planning on doing a World Cup in June, in Des Moines, Iowa, which is a race I have done before, and then the Grand Prix.

"We'll see how it goes, you know, the goal for this year is to get back on track with triathlon, and to race, and to get back to where I was. But if I'm not happy with how things are going, then maybe I will switch, we'll have to see. It's kind of nice to have an option."

A two-time Olympian, Duffy's discipline had always been triathlon, but after a disappointing showing at the 2008 Games in Beijing, she walked away from a sport she 'fell out of love with'.

"It's difficult to do something (triathlon) if you lose the passion for it," said Duffy. "Because I was struggling with so much stuff, it was just very hard to deal with the fact that I was not performing to the level that I used to.

"And I couldn't get my head around why, and I just needed a break and I needed a little bit of a rest. This was right after Beijing, and I was 20 years old, and it's a lot to deal with at that age."

A change of scene and a change of focus came with a move to the University of Colorado in Boulder, and a realisation that sport, be it cycling or triathlon, was what she wanted to do with her life.

"It's been good, it was one of the best decisions I've made," she said. "And to move to Boulder, to get out here, it's a great lifestyle, everyone's super active, and I learnt a lot about myself and what I want to do. It's definitely sport, whether it's triathlon or cycling, that's what I want to do with my life, and I think I know how to deal with expectations, and the pressure, and all of that is a lot better now."

Expectations aren't something she's had to deal with as a cyclist. After all, it was only supposed to be a bit of fun.

"I just joined the university team last January when I first moved to Boulder, just because I didn't want to do anything to do with triathlon," she said. "This was going to be fun. I raced, I wasn't training super hard, but it was fun and I was racing well, and then I raced again this season and I'm the strongest girl in the team and they really encouraged me to race for them.

"It's been going really well, all the cycling I've been doing has been going really good and I've been feeling good, so things are coming along nicely.

"There's no pressure for me to do well, it's such a new thing, that I have no standards, it's like 'well, I'm just going to go out there and race, and see how I do'."

That relaxed approach earned her a spot in the All-Star team, with whom she will race later next month but her enjoyment, and to a lesser extent success, also triggered a desire to return to triathlon.

"Getting selected for the collegiate team is really exciting," said Duffy, "but it's actually kind of weird because I am back focused on triathlon, and I just enjoy doing bike racing for CU, just for fun, and it's good fitness and I really enjoy it. But it's taken off a little and so it was kind of a nice surprise to have raced so well this season and to do so well at nationals.

"My whole attitude to cycling and triathlon has changed again and I am a lot more serious about it, and since September '09 I have quietly been picking up my (triathlon) training and been super serious about it, but keeping it all on down low because I haven't wanted to deal with anybody."

In two weeks she'll have to deal with people, especially as she's been away from the sport for so long. Duffy though isn't worried what people think anymore, it's a lesson she learnt in 2008.

"I'm just going to go out and see how I do and see how it goes," she said. "It's also kind of scary for me because it's not like it's going to be my first World Cup where nobody knows me. This is my first World Cup after taking a year-and-a-half out of the sport, so it's like . . . I'm kind of not trying to look at what people think anymore, I do it for myself and focus on that."