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Videos: Team Wiggins - and Great Britain boss Shane Sutton - look ahead to Rio Olympics

Sir Bradley Wiggins and several team mates named in British squad for European Track Championships

With the Rio 2016 Olympics less than a year away, riders from Team Wiggins – including four time gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins – have been reflecting on this season and the challenge ahead in a short video. Meanwhile Shane Sutton has named the Great Britain squad for this month's European Track Champioships.

The British-registered UCI Continental registered team will provide most, if not all, of the riders who will seek a third successive Olympic gold medal in the team pursuit in Brazil next summer, including Stephen Burke who won gold at both Beijing and London.

Wiggins himself won gold in the discipline at Beijing, and along with Burke and Andy Tennant – a member of the squad at London 2012 but missing out on a medal since he did not ride in the heats or final – a former world champion in the team pursuit.

The footage was shot at last month’s Tour of Britain, where Owain Doull won the Chain Reaction Cycles points jersey and finished third overall. The Welsh rider moved up into a podium place on the final day in London when his colleagues used their team pursuit strength to drive the peloton ahead of the first intermediate sprint to enable him to claim vital bonus seconds.

Looking to Rio 2016 with WIGGINS from Gareth Winter on Vimeo.

Doull, Wiggins and Tennant are among the riders featured in the short film posted to Vimeo, which comes in at just 1 minute 11 seconds.

Meanwhile, Great Britain technical director Shane Sutton has named Wiggins and several of the team’s riders in the national squad for the forthcoming European Track Championships which take place in Grenchen, Switzerland, next week.

Sutton said: “We’ve selected a strong squad for this year’s European Championships. With the Olympic Games in Rio now less than a year away it’s a great opportunity to secure some vital qualifying points.

“We saw some really promising performances at the British Cycling National Track Championships and the Europeans provide a good chance to put the talent out there and pit themselves against the best in the world.

“Having Bradley Wiggins there for the whole squad is a plus. If you want to go into big battles, you need big leaders and Brad is a big leader. He’s won the Tour, he’s won everything in cycling so it’s good for the squad he is going.”

He talks about the event and the squad in more depth in this video from British Cycling, and full details of the squad can be found here.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

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nick_caton | 9 years ago
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@Dr Concrete its probably worth some time at Manchester velodrome then you would have seen the class that both Brad and Mark are showing especially Cav as 5th man off the back of the team pursuit squad and then sprinting on by. Poetry in motion.

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Leviathan | 9 years ago
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Some people are just stuck in the same old narrative groove; Wiggo and Cav must be unfairly pushing into the team. Cav for one won't have any easy time getting into the team, and I think he should stick to the road. But hey ho, don't let facts get in the way of a long held one sided grudge.

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pwake replied to Leviathan | 9 years ago
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bikeboy76 wrote:

Some people are just stuck in the same old narrative groove; Wiggo and Cav must be unfairly pushing into the team. Cav for one won't have any easy time getting into the team, and I think he should stick to the road. But hey ho, don't let facts get in the way of a long held one sided grudge.

Recent history has shown that the British Cycling squad is about the closest that any sport squad has come to a meritocracy; the best example being Jason Kenny's selection over Chris Hoy at the 2012 Olympic Games, so it's hard to see anyone "unfairly pushing into the team". In Wiggo's case, you are aware that you are talking about, arguably, the most experienced track rider on the roster and the World Hour Record holder (by a considerable margin); hard to see how considering him for the team pursuit is in any way unfair.
You're correct in saying that Cav, for one, won't have an easy time getting into the team, but if he is selected for the omnium ahead of Ed Clancy, it will be on form, performance and results. Cav's also a very accomplished track rider, so it's really a great situation to be in for Shane Sutton, to have two such incredible riders committed to racing the track in Rio.

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fukawitribe replied to pwake | 9 years ago
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pwake wrote:
bikeboy76 wrote:

Some people are just stuck in the same old narrative groove; Wiggo and Cav must be unfairly pushing into the team. Cav for one won't have any easy time getting into the team, and I think he should stick to the road. But hey ho, don't let facts get in the way of a long held one sided grudge.

Recent history has shown that the British Cycling squad is about the closest that any sport squad has come to a meritocracy; the best example being Jason Kenny's selection over Chris Hoy at the 2012 Olympic Games, so it's hard to see anyone "unfairly pushing into the team". In Wiggo's case, you are aware that you are talking about, arguably, the most experienced track rider on the roster and the World Hour Record holder (by a considerable margin); hard to see how considering him for the team pursuit is in any way unfair.
You're correct in saying that Cav, for one, won't have an easy time getting into the team, but if he is selected for the omnium ahead of Ed Clancy, it will be on form, performance and results. Cav's also a very accomplished track rider, so it's really a great situation to be in for Shane Sutton, to have two such incredible riders committed to racing the track in Rio.

I think that was the point he was making, in response the usual 'Poor Ed' post...

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Dr Concrete | 9 years ago
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Gkam84 replied to Dr Concrete | 9 years ago
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Dr Concrete wrote:

Er, injured?........

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/freak-accident-deals-blo...

Missed that one, cheers. Was on the road in Ireland at the time working on a race

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Gkam84 | 9 years ago
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No Ed Clancy, Who is running British cycling these days? It's management or Team Sky, Team Sky 2 (Wiggins) and all their shareholders?

Because of the way Clancy has just been pushed out, I hope the mens team pursuit have a mass of mechanics and fail to medal  19

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farrell replied to Gkam84 | 9 years ago
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Gkam84 wrote:

No Ed Clancy, Who is running British cycling these days? It's management or Team Sky, Team Sky 2 (Wiggins) and all their shareholders?

Because of the way Clancy has just been pushed out, I hope the mens team pursuit have a mass of mechanics and fail to medal  19

I absolutely knew you'd come out with this nonsense the minute the team was announced. You really don't miss an opportunity to trot out the same petty, tired bitter rants do you?

If not getting free stuff off Sky still bothers you that bleeding much I'm sure we can have a whip round to see if the people on here can cobble together some gear to save your whining.

Avatar
Gkam84 replied to farrell | 9 years ago
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farrell wrote:
Gkam84 wrote:

No Ed Clancy, Who is running British cycling these days? It's management or Team Sky, Team Sky 2 (Wiggins) and all their shareholders?

Because of the way Clancy has just been pushed out, I hope the mens team pursuit have a mass of mechanics and fail to medal  19

I absolutely knew you'd come out with this nonsense the minute the team was announced. You really don't miss an opportunity to trot out the same petty, tired bitter rants do you?

If not getting free stuff off Sky still bothers you that bleeding much I'm sure we can have a whip round to see if the people on here can cobble together some gear to save your whining.

What is this you keep coming back to, not getting free stuff from Sky? I can't remember ever asking Sky for anything and I did get something from them  21

Avatar
Leviathan replied to Gkam84 | 9 years ago
0 likes
Gkam84 wrote:
farrell wrote:
Gkam84 wrote:

No Ed Clancy, Who is running British cycling these days? It's management or Team Sky, Team Sky 2 (Wiggins) and all their shareholders?

Because of the way Clancy has just been pushed out, I hope the mens team pursuit have a mass of mechanics and fail to medal  19

I absolutely knew you'd come out with this nonsense the minute the team was announced. You really don't miss an opportunity to trot out the same petty, tired bitter rants do you?

If not getting free stuff off Sky still bothers you that bleeding much I'm sure we can have a whip round to see if the people on here can cobble together some gear to save your whining.

What is this you keep coming back to, not getting free stuff from Sky? I can't remember ever asking Sky for anything and I did get something from them  21

There is a brand new Wiggins story, a perfect opportunity for you to tell us why you don't like Wiggins or Sky by association. Your animosity to them has been noted repeatedly due to your 'first' posts on numerous threads. So we would all be grateful if you could explain the original cause of your dissatisfaction, as some of your comments now seem 'out of context' and can often stir emotions on the forum. I am sure some insight into your feelings would illuminate us all.

Thank you.

http://road.cc/content/news/167018-bradley-wiggins-ride-second-round-rev...

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Flying Scot replied to Gkam84 | 9 years ago
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Gkam84 wrote:

No Ed Clancy, Who is running British cycling these days? It's management or Team Sky, Team Sky 2 (Wiggins) and all their shareholders?

Because of the way Clancy has just been pushed out, I hope the mens team pursuit have a mass of mechanics and fail to medal  19

Yeah the hour record holder, he must be shite on the track I assume.

I don't like Sky, but you're wrong here, and I hope they don't let you near their tubs.

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Leviathan replied to Gkam84 | 9 years ago
0 likes
Gkam84 wrote:

Because of the way Clancy has just been pushed out, I hope the mens team pursuit have a mass of mechanics and fail to medal  19

Gkam has a whole plate of chips weighing him down. I hope that the clanking of multiple medals around the necks of British athletes will stab at his heart. Revenge is a dish best served in Rio. That is enough mixed metaphors for now.

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