Steven Burke, Owain Doull, and Ed Clancy, along with Sir Bradley Wiggins, set a new world record in Friday’s final, completing 4km in three minutes 50.265 seconds.
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It shows how ultimately, despite all the achievements, despite being the greatest rider of his generation, Sir Bradley Wiggins is just a man who loves to ride his bike and push himself to keep riding faster and faster everyday.
The exhausting race was neck-in-neck with Team Australia, but Team GB managed to lead us to victory in the last few seconds.
Wiggins went on to become both Britain’s first Tour de France victor and win more Olympic medals than any other Briton, combining a track and road racing career in a way few have been able to master.
“We’ve had some big downs and crossing the line”, added Clancy, whose team suffered defeat to New Zealand in the final of the 2015 world championships and Australia a year ago.
There was a certain inevitability to his final Olympic appearance, as alongside Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Owain Doull he claimed the team pursuit title in Rio.
“I take myself to Sydney in 2000 and what that meant to me as a 20-year-old kid wandering round there, watching Steve win his fifth gold there and thinking how incredible and awesome it was”.
“This whole sexism thing, I’d never, ever seen any sign of that, really”, Wiggins said. This is the first Chinese gold medal – we did it.
Wiggins won the Tour of Britain in 2013 with Team Sky, the year after winning the Tour de France and claiming a gold medal at the London 2012 Games in the road time trial.
“I spoke to him before the final yesterday”.
United States quartet Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente won their semi-final at the Olympic velodrome in a time of 4min 12.282sec to beat the 4:13.260 mark Britain posted two days ago in Thursday’s qualifying. “I’ll be 35 by then (Tokyo) and if I can get four medals out of this team pursuit career, I’ll call it a day then”.
Although Wiggins accepts interim team leader Andy Harrison has “steadied the ship”, the former Tour de France victor said Sutton should be credited with the Rio success.
“I was down the track, giving everything trying to get back on that wheel”.
Adding to the haul of 22 medals, were the British rowers who won two golds in 20 minutes.
Doull, twice a Track World Championships silver medallist, wishes to be there, too, but only after focusing on the road with Team Sky. Not thinking about world records, just going out to win the medal.
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“I had no idea it was a medal but my performance was the best I could have done, that is why I was so happy, that all the training and hard work had paid off”, Page told BBC One. It’s gone now. I’ve been Olympic champion for 12 years. “It all came together for us”.
