Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish savour another gold in their '˜presidency'

Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish were thrilled to come full circle after winning the Track Cycling World Championships madison title in London, eight years on from their first win as a pair.
Great Britain's Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish slingshot each other during the men's Madison race.Great Britain's Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish slingshot each other during the men's Madison race.
Great Britain's Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish slingshot each other during the men's Madison race.

Wiggins and Cavendish won the 2008 title in Manchester before their road careers took off.

Wiggins became the first British Tour de France winner in 2012, while Cavendish won 26 Tour stages and the 2011 road race world title before returning to the track.

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The pair reprised their partnership for one last time at world level and won in emphatic fashion before saluting the crowd and Wiggins kissed the track after Britain’s fifth gold of the five-day event.

Laura Trott earlier won her second gold in the omnium as the hosts topped the medal table.

Wiggins said: “You couldn’t have written a better script. It was like deja vu from eight years ago. We went on to conquer the world in those eight years, like Barack Obama.”

And almost completing the sentence, Cavendish added: “And then come round full circle.”

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Wiggins added: “We’ve had a good term in presidency. Come back, full circle and won it again.”

Cavendish now has three world titles in the discipline and four in all, after also winning the 2005 title with Rob Hayles in Los Angeles.

Wiggins, who supported Cavendish in his road race win in 2011, has eight world titles: the road time-trial world title from 2014, plus seven on the track.

He took off his helmet to salute the crowd in celebration and Cavendish raised his arms aloft as The Boys Are Back in Town played at the Lee Valley VeloPark.

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Wiggins dismounted his bike and kissed the track where he set the Hour Record last June – the breadth of the four-time Olympic champion’s success is astounding – following a crowd-pleasing win.

Wiggins said: “Just to send all those people away happy – like when the (Stone) Roses played at Heaton Park in 2012, it was a good gig, wasn’t it? Everyone went home happy. It was like us two getting back together again.”

The pair have plenty of shared history on the road and track and added to it over 200 laps (50km) of the London Velodrome in the madison.

“In 50 years’ time – you see those iconic photos of (Tom) Simpson now and you think what those images will be like,” Wiggins said.

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The pair scored points early on, winning three straight sprints, before taking a late lap that ensured a crash for Cavendish mattered little.

The 30-year-old from the Isle of Man hit the deck inside the final 10 laps as Wiggins crossed the line to seal victory.

Wiggins added: “I was like ‘cheeky little..., where is he?’ I kept looking for him, thinking it had been a long turn.

“I didn’t realise he’d crashed. I was out of it by then, just foaming at the mouth for the last 10 laps.”

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Cavendish added: “Of all my three world titles, I have never crossed the line on lap zero to win. It’s always been my partner.”

He was surly when it was suggested he performed better than he had in the six-discipline, two-day omnium, when he finished sixth.

“I felt good in the omnium,” he added. “Brad and I complement each other really well for the madison. It’s like the perfect pairing.”

The duo plan to ride together into next autumn, possibly at the London Six Days, and also on the continental Six Day circuit.

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Wiggins, who plans to retire from top-level competition after the Rio Olympics, said: “We have to (ride the Six Day events). It will be like the old days. I’ll put my retirement back, definitely.”

Cavendish is vying for selection for Rio, but must also be able to ride the four-man, four kilometre team pursuit in which Wiggins is targeting his fifth Games gold and British record eighth Olympic medal.

British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton said Cavendish would have to leave the Tour de France early to focus on the Olympics, where Trott appears on form to defend her omnium title.

The 23-year-old from Cheshunt now has seven world titles – two from London – and a first omnium crown since 2012, when she went on to win two Olympic golds. She has long targeted Sir Chris Hoy’s British record haul of six Olympic gold medals and moved within four of his World Championship tally of 11 with the victory.

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“I love the number seven – I can retire happy now,” said Trott, who has four team pursuit world titles and won bronze in the event on Friday. “I might be able to do four in one go, because I could do the omnium, the team pursuit, the points race and the scratch.

“It’s taken me four years to get a gold medal back in the omnium.”

Jason Kenny ran out of steam after his sprint win on Saturday and finished sixth in the Keirin final, won by Germany’s Joachim Eilers.