Wiggins willing to financially support a British women's team

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Bradley Wiggins supports professional women's cycling and is in fact ready to put his money into it. He would be willing to make a financial investment in a “full-on” elite women's team, he has said.

“I would like to help form a women’s team ,” he told The Telegraph. “I have no idea what it would cost but it would be something I would be willing to put in some of my own money in to start up.”

The Tour de France winner and Olympic champion would only be interested in a full-fledged effort, though. “It would have to be all or nothing, though, I wouldn’t want to be involved in a tuppence-ha’penny team. It would have to be a full-on set up.”

Women's cycling is notoriously underpaid as compared to the elite men, and there is much instability with sponsors. For example, the team AA Drink-Leontien.nl will stop at the end of this season.

One of Britain's top riders, Emma Pooley, who is on that team, recently told Cyclingnews, “I’m considering or taking a year off. I have spoken to other teams but the whole climate in women’s cycling is not very encouraging. Although some women’s teams are really well run, there's such a hand to mouth existence. Every year it seems like a team folds and it’s a lot of stress.”

Wiggins is willing to do his part to change this. “I just have an amazing respect for what our women do. They are the forgotten ones in the sport and yet they have just as big a success as we do with the men.”