British Cycling name former Tour de France winner on 2016/17 track roster
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Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish celebrate the 2016 Gent Six Day win
Bradley Wiggins on the cover of the latest issue of Pro Cycling(Image credit: Procycling)
Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish won the Gent Six Day
Bradley Wiggins on the track in Gent during the 2km farewell race for Fabian Cancellara(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in action in Gent
Bradley Wiggins' plans to retire at the end of the 2016 season look to be over after the former Tour de France winner and five-time Olympic Games gold medallist was named in British Cycling’s Great Britain Cycling Team Olympic Podium Programme for 2017.
Wiggins had strongly hinted that the Gent Six Day in November would be his final competitive outing but after winning the event with Mark Cavendish, the former Team Sky leader opened the door for racing next season.
"This will be the last time we race together for sure," Wiggins said of his partnership with Cavendish before adding: "Maybe not my last, individually. When you think of all that we've achieved together, it's incredible."
When pressed on his future at the Belgian track event, Wiggins added. "I'm not sure. I just want to enjoy this moment," he said. "I still have really good legs, so I don't want to say it's 100 per cent the end, and then make an announcement next week. At the moment, I'm just going to enjoy today."
It's unclear as to where Wiggins will race next season, however British Cycling's roster certainly indicates that he will have options should he wish to carry on.
Steve Burke, Ed Clancy, Kian Emadi, Chris Latham, Mark Stewart, Andy Tennant and Oliver Wood have also been named as part of the men's Olympic track programme.
In a statement released by British Cycling, Programmes director Andy Harrison said: "In a year which has seen some fantastic performances from the Great Britain Cycling Team, the bar for programme membership remains high and we have a very strong Podium Programme squad to lead us into the next Olympic cycle.
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"In particular, I'm pleased to see the strength and depth we have within the women’s road squad which has been bolstered by the additions Dani King, Nikki Brammeier and former mountain biker Alice Barnes, which paints a very different picture to where we were with this squad a couple of years ago.
"I'm also very happy with the pathway progression of the six academy riders who have stepped up from Senior Academy level and already we're seeing great results from the track riders."
Great Britain Cycling Team Olympic Podium Programme - 2016/17
