Bradley Wiggins at the Six Day London on October 30, 2016
Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish of Great Britain celebrate their second place finish on the Podium after the final of the Six Day London
Cameron Meyer and Callum Scotson of Australia, Kenny de Ketele and Moreno de Pauw of Belgium and Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish of Great Britain celebrate on the Podium after the final of the Six Day
Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain ahead of the final of the Six Day London
Bradley Wiggins is doing all of his talking with his legs this week at Six Day London
Bradley Wiggins competes in the Six Day London Cycling at the Velodrome on October 25, 2016 in London, England
Having finished second to Belgian duo Kenny de Ketele and Moreno de Pauw at the Six Day London with Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins suggested that he could be coaxed out of retirement to continue his career into 2017. Wiggins had previosuly stated that the Six Day London and Ghent Six Day would be the final events of his career, which included becoming the first British winner of the Tour de France and five Olympic gold medals.
"Money talks," Wiggins said when asked if he could be persuaded to ride in 2017. "I've enjoyed it that much, I just don't know at the moment. I would love to still be part of it in the future.
"Who wouldn't want to come back, with a week like this and the crowds like this? It's been incredible."
Wiggins made the comments during the podium ceremony following the conclusion of the Six Day London on Sunday at the Lee Valley VeloPark, the same venue he and Cavendish claimed their second career madison title in March. While there was radio silence from Wiggins during the week with the ongoing controversy surrounding leaked TUEs and an unknown Team Sky medical package, the 36-year-old spoke nightly with the host broadcasters and Six Day London MC's.
Coming into the final night of racing, Cavendish and Wiggins led the defending champions de Ketele and de Pauw only to lose their lead in a dramatic finale as the Belgian duo stole a lap and secured the victory. Wiggins explained that while he would have liked to have finished his final race on British soil as a winner, he added that the result was actually better then expected.
"I am disappointed but at the same time, pleased it's over. It's no mean feat losing to those guys because they are specialists at this," Wiggins said of the result. "They nearly won the Worlds off us back in March, they took a lap right at the end similar to that without realising it. To finish second to them, they are specialists at this and winners last year, I think has been a good week all round.
"I don't think we expected to be in that position going into tonight. Mark, coming off Abu Dhabi last week, I hadn't raced since the Tour of Britain, which is seven weeks ago, so it was a little bit unsure. Now, we really know where we are at now."
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Cavendish reiterated Wiggins' comments, adding the sold out crowds had been a highlight of the week.
"It's been brilliant, the crowds have been phenomenal every night, that's what it's about," Cavendish said. "The noise was just like when we won the world championships back in March and . We fought and we are happy to be in this position really. Like Brad said, we didn't know how we'd be and actually to be fighting for the win is incredible. I am majorly disappointed that people turn out and we couldn't win but at least Kenny and Moreno, it's not we haven't lost to the best madison riders or six day riders in the world so we have to have happy with that. We are world champions and we rode like that in front of a home crowd."
Cavendish added that after their good showing in London, he and Wiggins will be aiming to take the victory in Belgium next month.
"We know we're in top condition and we know we can go to Ghent with good condition and ready to win," he said
