'There will always be a place for him' says Salzwedel
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That's five - count 'em, five - gold medals for Bradley Wiggins
Bradley Wiggins after his Gent Six Day win with Mark Cavendish
Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish won the Gent Six Day
Bradley Wiggins leads Great Britain to Olympic gold
Bradley Wiggins takes a breather(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Bradley Wiggins could carry on racing right through to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, according to Great Britain's team pursuit coach Heiko Salzwedel.
Wiggins, 36, won his fifth Olympic gold medal at the Rio Games in August as part of the British quartet in the pursuit. Since then he has ridden two six-day events and, while he had previously suggested he would be retiring, he has been added to the British Olympic programme for 2017.
"There will always be a place for him," Salzwedel told Cyclingnews.
"I believe that there's more in the tank and so much left over. I don't want that being wasted, so if he's committed he can do it for another couple of years at least. I want to keep the door open and he has not confirmed his plans.
"He can carry on with the pursuit and the madison and they're the key events. I wouldn't even rule him out of competing at the Olympics in 2020. Why not? For me age is no limit; it's all about performance. Over the years he has built up such an endurance level and he can still utilise that. He's always welcome."
While Wiggins remains out of competition, Salzwedel is starting to put together a squad for next year's World Championships without Wiggins and fellow pursuit rider Ed Clancy, who will concentrate more on the road in 2017.
For Salzwedel, Wiggins' main challenge will be mental rather than physical. On top of that, the British rider has endured a difficult few months resulting from the Fancy Bears hack and the publication of his controversial Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) use - something Salzwedel is unwilling to discuss at present.
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"I'm not considering him for the Worlds next year but maybe in 2018," the German added. "At the moment he's just enjoying his farewell tour and he's stopped being a fully committed athlete from a mental point of view. I just want to give him the time to now think about his situation and what he wants to do."
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
