Cycling: Wiggins goes off track for London

A senior British Cycling official has said triple Olympic track gold-medallist Bradley Wiggins will focus on road events, primarily the Olympic road time trial, at London 2012 after taking part in the Tour de France.

"As it stands at the minute, he won't do the track events," British cycling's road coach, Rod Ellingworth, told cycling website velonation.com yesterday. "He will concentrate on the road. The Olympics will be about the time trial and the road-race, I think the time trial will be one of his main focuses of the year."

Wiggins has been an integral part of the British Cycling track squad right from the very start of its slow rise to Olympic power back in 2000, and is the only British rider – together with Sir Chris Hoy – to have taken medals in every Games since then. In 2000, he took a bronze in the team pursuit; in 2004, he took gold in the individual pursuit, silver in the team pursuit and bronze in the Madison; and in 2008 he secured triumphs in the individual and team pursuits as part of the so-called "gold rush" at Beijing.

Wiggins had told the BBC in September that he would contemplate going for a double in the time trial and team pursuit, but he now appears to have dropped the latter.

Although he has been a professional road-racer since 2000, Wiggins' increasing interest in grand tours came after his Beijing success and he took a record-equalling fourth place in the Tour de France in 2009.

His participation in the Tour of the Algarve in Portugal next February clashes with the track World Cup event in London and last year's World Championship time trial silver medal has prompted him to target that speciality in London next year.