It's going to be a make of break game for Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish at the Track World Championships this week. Both Britons will have to deliver in team pursuit and omnium events respectively to earn their spot in the Team GB for Rio, before they team up for the Madison race for the first time since August on Sunday.
Wiggins and Cavendish won the World Championship title in Madison back in 2008. Even though they're focusing on other events in London, the former claims that their present reunion is a natural consequence of successes they achieved in the past.
"It's a natural partnership for us both. We have both been successful in the past together. It's not an Olympic event any more so there is nothing riding on it, other than you get to be world champion for a year,” Wiggins told Sky Sports.
"The first time it came up was riding the Revolution in Derby last year. 'Shall we do Derby?' And I thought, 'Come on, it might be a bit embarrassing', and he was like, 'It doesn't matter if we finish 10th, people just want to see us race', and I think that's the same with the worlds."
Wiggins also admitted that they didn't have a chance to prepare specifically for the event traditionally closing World Championships on Sunday, but remained optmistic about their chances.
"He's focusing on the omnium, I'm focusing on the team pursuit, we haven't done a hand sling since August.”
"The key thing is, people just want to see us race to start with and once we get there, an hour before, let's go, 'Right, what are we actually going to do here? Let's have a think about this'."
As for his own battle for the spot in the Great Britain's squad for the Olympic Games in Rio, the former Tour de France champion confirmed that nothing was certain at the moment and six riders remained in contention for four places. Wiggins also emphasized that in his own case a performance in the team pursuit event would be decisive and was ready to do his best on the boards.
"I don't think about the end because I haven't made the end yet and I haven't made the team for the Olympics yet. There are six of us going for four spots and I might not even make the plane. It's just making sure you do everything they ask of you in the run-up.”
"I'm not really thinking past this week. Try to win a world title and do your job in each round and then go on to the next phase, which is the run-up to the Olympics."
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