LONDON • Bradley Wiggins has confirmed that this year's Rio Olympics will almost certainly be his final event in top-level cycling, while predicting the British team could win fewer than half the number of velodrome golds secured at the London Games four years ago.

The British cyclist had previously talked about retiring at the end of this year but also raised the prospect that he could race on.

However, he told The Guardian that his success last week at the world track championships in London, at which he and Mark Cavendish took gold in the Madison, seemed impossible to top.

"I don't think so," Wiggins said when asked if there might be any more top-level racing after Rio.

"If I was to leave the worlds where they were, bowing out of international competition as world champion in London, I couldn't leave it on a better place."

This did not, Wiggins added, mean he would no longer be seen on a bike, saying he would "love" to continue racing with his eponymous team at a British level.

Asked if he could see himself taking part in local time trials into his 40s and beyond, he replied: "I can't see why not."

Wiggins was not part of the track squad at London 2012, instead taking gold in the road time trial , fresh from his Tour de France triumph.

His was one of eight British cycling golds in London, with the other seven coming in the velodrome.

With British track dominance having slipped somewhat since then, Wiggins said he predicted a lower total for Rio.

"I think we'll win three to four gold medals on the track, which is quite a little bit less than it was in London," he said. "We'll still be successful but I don't think we'll repeat London. Maybe in time."

THE GUARDIAN