Bradley Wiggins started his season at the Tour of Qatar where he kicked off his build-up for his final race as a Sky rider at Paris-Roubaix. Later he will focus on the Hour Record and the track disciplines. For this, he has created his own team, Team Wiggins. The Brit believes that the sport has taken steps in the "right direction" but admits that there is still more to do. And he doesn’t like the outcome of the Astana discusson.

Wiggins owns his team and his management agency XIX Entertainment seeks sponsors and funds needed to keep it alive. "I had the idea for the team to focus on the games and to leave the road. Initially, it was to facilitate the program on the track, to train together. Then I wished we could find the great future talent, just as Axel (Merckx) does in the United States. This team becomes a serious option for the best British riders, instead of going to the United States one year before joining Sky. Sky has turned away from this path and has become very, very elitist. They do not have time to develop young talent," he explains in an interview with L'Equipe .

Hence, he will stay involved in cycling. "But not in the WorldTour,” he says. “Again, it's hard not to think about the past, but when I was in Qatar in 2002, cycling was totally different. There was camaraderie and we were all in the lobby,  riders from all teams. Now everything is segregated. Nobody talks to each other in the elevators.”

"But the sport has changed in the right direction, even though the Tour need time to change the doping image. Recent developments do not help, however. I love Nibali, I'm a big fan of him, but unfortunately for him, his Astana team is a disaster.  Some people should not be in this sport, and we all know the names. As long as they are here, confidence will not return. We have a new president of the UCI (Brian Cookson). In one way, I understand him and I have read his explanation (for the giving Astana a WorldTour license), but we need someone to take difficult decisions and carry them out,” he says.

His goal on the road is Paris-Roubaix. "Roubaix is ​​not a challenge like a time trial or the Hour Record. It is very unpredictable. In Qatar, I just want to finish without any crashes. Then I will do other races to have a chance of being in contention in Roubaix. Getting to the velodrome – whether I am the winner or the last one – everything will end there, that's all I want,” he says.

For the Hour Record, he will train in Manchester, London and Mallorca. "I do not want to force anything," he says. "Recently, I spoke at length with Chris Boardman. I want to do thirty minutes at a record pace, forty-five minutes at an average of 55km/h, and then I know if I can keep that up for another fifteen minutes. In that way, I will know exactly what I can achieve.”