Shane Sutton, technical director at the British Cycling team, has dropped a hint that Bradley Wiggins needs to step up his efforts if he wants to be included in the final four to race in the team pursuit at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Wiggins will miss the London World Cup next month as he targets Paris-Roubaix before he will make the transition to the track with an Hour Record attempt before joining his own Continental ranked team for 2015 to help him adjust even more to he track. Wiggins was part of the team pursuit victory in 2008 in Beijing but he has raced on the track very little since then as he became a road star.

"My job here is to win medals not friends," Sutton told TheTelegraph. "Brad will know that I'm sat here looking at his numbers and thinking: 'Right, Brad, this is going to be a big ask for you to make this team.' Listen, Brad has basically got a 55 (3:55:00 time) posted to his name from the semi in Beijing. Yes, we did a 53 in the final but were behind the back of the Danes for the last four laps. We went 51 in London two years ago. We are going to need to go quicker [in Rio], that is for sure."

"The bar needs to be raised. Whether Brad can raise the bar, that is the challenge he has set himself. Only Brad can answer that question."

However, Sutton was adamant that Wiggins could greatly benefit the team if he is fully motivated to achieve his goals.

"Just his presence has lifted the whole team. And the one thing in Brad's favour is that when he sets his mind to something, like he has here – setting up his team, wanting the fairy-tale ending – it is very hard to distract him from the goal he has set out to achieve. The final decision will be made purely on the evidence I have in front of me. Brad would want me to make that decision on that evidence. If he makes it, he makes it. If he doesn't, he doesn't."

While the road race course hasn’t been fully announced yet, it is believed to suit climbers and Grand Tour stars, so Mark Cavendish and Ben Swift may be better off targeting the six event omnium in Rio, according to Sutton.

"Cav is looking specifically at the omnium, as is Ben," Sutton confirmed. "They don't want to be add-ons to the team pursuit, which you can understand. So we are looking at that at this moment in time, with Heiko (Salzwedel, men’s endurance coach). And obviously Rod Ellingworth who has mentored Cav all of his career.”

"That Omnium is set up so beautiful for them now with the change to the points race. I think it is a golden opportunity. I don't want Cav – who is going to leave this sport not just a great but a legend – to look back at the end of his career and say: 'Jeez, I should have went for that.'"