Sir Bradley Wiggins excited to ride Madison with Mark Cavendish
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 02/03/16 11:52am
Sir Bradley Wiggins says teaming up with Mark Cavendish in the Madison at this week’s UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London is a "natural partnership" but admits both of them are out of practice.
The pair will contest the two-man team race on Sunday after Wiggins has attempted to win gold in the team pursuit and Cavendish has completed his bid for a place on the omnium podium.
They won the world title in the event in 2008 but then famously fell out after finishing only ninth at the Olympic Games in Beijing later that year.
However, with differences now put aside, they reunited to win Madison gold at the Revolution Series meeting in Derby last August and couldn't resist pairing back up in front of a home London crowd this week.
Wiggins said: "It's a natural partnership for us both. We have both been successful in the past together. It's not an Olympic event any more so there is nothing riding on it, other than you get to be world champion for a year.
"The first time it came up was riding the Revolution in Derby last year. 'Shall we do Derby?' And I thought, 'Come on, it might be a bit embarrassing', and he was like, 'It doesn't matter if we finish 10th, people just want to see us race', and I think that's the same with the worlds."
Wiggins admits he and Cavendish haven't had chance to do any Madison training since their Derby success.
"None at all - not since that race in Derby," Wiggins added. "It's one of those things, the Madison; it's kind of just an afterthought, a bit like the relays at the athletics worlds. You just get up and do it on the end of the day.
"He's focusing on the omnium, I'm focusing on the team pursuit, we haven't done a hand sling since August.
"The key thing is, people just want to see us race to start with and once we get there, an hour before, let's go, 'Right, what are we actually going to do here? Let's have a think about this'."
Britain's men's pursuit team hope to break their own world record this year and although Wiggins believes it is possible in London, he feels Rio will be more likely.
He said: "It will either be this week, or in Rio. We are all quite excited that we could break the record this week, if the conditions are right.
"You go down to London and it's sticky in there, whether they get the temperature up, if people are lagging behind before the session starts wandering in and out of doors - you just don't know what conditions you are going to get."
Wiggins plans to retire from professional cycling at the end of the year and expects this week to be his final appearance at a World Championships.
However, with his place in the pursuit team at the Olympics still not secure, he insists he is not allowing nostalgia to affect his focus on winning gold in both London and Rio.
He added: "I don't think about the end because I haven't made the end yet and I haven't made the team for the Olympics yet. There are six of us going for four spots and I might not even make the plane. It's just making sure you do everything they ask of you in the run-up.
"I'm not really thinking past this week. Try to win a world title and do your job in each round and then go on to the next phase, which is the run-up to the Olympics."
The World Championships take place at the Lee Valley VeloPark from Wednesday, March 2, to Sunday, March 6.
