Mantra ‘rubbish’, says Wiggins

Sir Bradley Wiggins has dismissed the marginal gains process at the centre of British Cycling’s success under Sir Dave Brailsford as “a load of rubbish”.

Wiggins was also critical of fellow Olympic gold-medallist Victoria Pendleton and sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters, who worked with Brailsford at British Cycling and Team Sky and created the “chimp paradox” model for dealing with pressure.

Former Olympic champion Chris Boardman originally headed up British Cycling’s “Secret Squirrel Club”, now known as “Room X” under head of technical development Tony Purnell, to find any slight advantage through modifications to bike technology and riders’ clothing.

Wiggins won eight Olympic medals, including five golds, as well as the Tour de France for Brailsford’s Team Sky but he told the Telegraph: “A lot of people made a lot of money out of it and David Brailsford used it constantly as his calling card, but I always thought it was a load of rubbish.

Pendleton, who won sprint gold at Beijing 2008 and the keirin at London 2012, has credited Dr Peters as a major part of her success.

But Wiggins said: “Vicky’s a bit of a milkshake anyway. You can over-analyse things but at the end of the day, it’s about your ability and whether you’re a better athlete than the other person or not.”