I don’t want to end up looking like a plonker
Wiggins fears retirement and a ‘Rodney’ moment after gold bid
HIS demeanour is relaxed but Sir Bradley Wiggins is all too aware he could resemble the bumbling Rodney Trotter come January.
The Olympic legend looks ahead to Rio candidly, genuinely unsure whether he will continue at British Cycling beyond this year and be part of the core next year.
There is a definite burning desire to continue — perhaps even attempt to make Tokyo 2020 — yet an insecurity as to whether Wiggins is wanted beyond Brazil seems hard to shake.
Watching Wiggins dissect his situation makes for captivating viewing, the 36-year-old even joking that retirement might see him look like scattered Rodney in timeless sitcom Only Fools and Horses.
‘I’ve been part of the squad now for 20 years,’ Wiggins said in Manchester. ‘I’ve almost become part of the fabric of the [National Cycling Centre] building. I said to the guy in the gym, “If I retire can I still come in here and use the gym?” How long will it be before someone comes and says, “You don’t live here any more”, like that Only Fools quote with Rodney... will I get another kit allocation in January? I don’t know.
‘I might do my coaching badges so I’ve got something to do. The likelihood is I will wind down at the end of the year and do other things, but I like to give myself the option.
‘I’m coming back from Rio and doing the Tour of Britain. Then I will probably come in here in January because I always have done.
‘I’ll come in and keep training. There might be a role to ride in the worlds next year with the academy lads, who knows? I want to keep it open.’
Wiggins, desperate for a fifth gold and joined in the Olympic team pursuit by Mark Cavendish, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Owain Doull, also revealed former technical director Shane Sutton, whose acrimonious exit rocked British Cycling, is still messaging over tips.
‘I’ve had a couple of texts from Shane just wanting to know how the group’s going,’ Wiggins said. ‘I think at the heart of it he still loves the personal stuff and I guess that was his downfall, going up the chain.
‘It’s been well documented that names count for nothing — “can he come in and do the team pursuit, he’s 36 years old?”.
‘Even at the worlds, Shane was saying no-one’s place is secure — “especially that skinny b*****d” — so to be able to go through that process and be selected feels as nice as it did 16 years ago when I was told I was selected [for Sydney]. The way I feel I could go on to Tokyo.
‘I’m a better athlete than I was 16, or even eight, years ago. I almost think I could go on for another four years physically.’