Sir Bradley Wiggins only has eyes for gold in record-breaking Rio quest

Sir Bradley Wiggins says a record-breaking eighth Olympic medal will mean nothing unless it is gold in Rio, and admits his fear of retirement is tempting him to seriously consider extending his career in search of even more glory.

It has been widely assumed the 36-year-old Wiggins will step aside after this summer's team pursuit, in which a medal will take Wiggins above his former team-mate Sir Chris Hoy and make him the most successful British Olympian of all time.

But heading into his fifth Games, after making his debut in Sydney in 2000, Wiggins believes he is still fit and focused enough to render his expected decision at the end of the current season anything but a formality.

Wiggins said: "For me Rio is about one colour and it's got to be golden. I'm not really concerned about silver and bronzes. Bronze will be enough to have more medals than anyone else, but with this group anything but gold will be a huge disappointment.

"The last 12 months have been my most enjoyable since 2009 and I have really stepped up my individual performance. I'm a better athlete than I was 16 or even eight years ago, and the way I feel at the moment I could go to Tokyo.

"I like to think I could go on another four years. The likelihood is I will wind down at the end of the year, but I like to give myself the option. I don't like the thought of saying it's going to be the end. I'm like Ryan Giggs at Manchester United - I've almost become part of the fabric of the building."

Wiggins won his first Olympic medal with a team pursuit bronze in Sydney, before winning one medal of each colour in Athens, double gold in Beijing, and a fourth gold in the time trial at London 2012.

Wiggins will return to the team pursuit in Rio along with Ed Clancy, Steve Burke, Owain Doull and Mark Cavendish, the latter having been selected as the fifth man of the team despite his stated intention to complete this summer's Tour de France which finishes 18 days before the start of the Rio cycling programme.

According to Wiggins, the likelihood is Cavendish - who is considered to have a strong medal chance in the omnium - will be used sparingly if at all in the team pursuit, possibly in order to give Burke a breather in the semi-final depending on circumstances.

But despite some controversy over the selection of Cavendish in light of his continued road racing commitments, Wiggins claims the selectors have been right in keeping faith with the Manxman, who is still searching for his first Olympic medal.

"I think Cav is more of a back-up if something happens, but he has been training specifically to prove he can do the job," added Wiggins. "He's done that and they're now thinking they could use him in a semi-final ride and give someone a rest - that option has only really become possible in the last week or so.

"I think if he was purely doing team pursuit with a guarantee of riding in every race, he wouldn't do the Tour de France. But Mark's training for the omnium and recognising he needs to race a lot on the road and come into the Games with that road form."

Wiggins said selection for the 2016 Games still meant as much as the time he was told he would be going to Sydney in 2000, and was all the sweeter because it has been acknowledged that reputations - even one as vast as Wiggins' - count for nothing in the sport's cut-throat selection process.

"It seems like yesterday although 16 years is a long time," added Wiggins. "I joined this programme 20 years ago when when I was on the fringes of the squad and I remember they had to pay their own way to Atlanta and took their own bikes that they were lucky enough to have been given by bike shops.

"It's been well documented that names count for nothing and Mark and I have had to come back and prove ourselves. To be able to go through that process and be selected still feels for me as nice as it did 16 years ago, so I'm just proud from that point of view."