SIR Bradley Wiggins predicted Great Britain would claim Olympic team pursuit gold in Rio after finishing second to perennial rivals Australia at the Track Cycling World Championships in London.

Wiggins, Owain Doull, Jon Dibben and Ed Clancy finished just over a second behind the Aussies in Thursday night's final after Dibben peeled off and Clancy was distanced in the closing stages.

But Wiggins still believes the squad, which includes Colne's Steven Burke who rode in qualifying, can claim Olympic gold in Brazil.

He said: "We knew we'd have a race on here and we're going to have a race in Rio, but I think we'll get over the line first in Rio."

Wiggins paid tribute to two-time Olympic team pursuit champion Clancy, who was drafted into the line-up for the final after recovering from a career-threatening back injury.

"He (Clancy) is the strongest man in the team. He's the one man that's probably irreplaceable," Wiggins said.

"Where he has come from, he's the strongest man. I said a couple of weeks ago that he was the one man that was probably irreplaceable. We just have to take it on the chin and keep working.

"We did gamble a bit with the semi-final putting Tennant in and Burke wasn't quite on it and that was to save Jon and Ed for the final."