Wiggins hints that he might extend his career

Bradley Wiggins hinted on Sunday that he might extend his cycling career after winning what was expected to be his final professional race.

Wiggins, the most decorated Olympian in British history, won the Ghent Six Days event in Belgium with Mark Cavendish on the boards of the `t Kuipke velodrome where, as a child, he had watched his father compete.

After his victory, the 2012 Tour de France winner hinted he might not hang up his bike for good after coming out on top of a thrilling three-way battle in the final Madison race of the cycling marathon.

''I always said that this would be my final send-off, to come here and race Ghent for one last time,'' said Wiggins, who also won the race in 2003 in the city where he was born 36 years ago.

''This will be the last time we race together (with Mark) for sure. Maybe not my last individually, but together as a pairing. I am not sure about my future yet, but at this moment I've still got really good legs, so I don't want to say that is 100 per cent it. I will make an announcement next week, but at the moment I am just going to enjoy today.''

If Wiggins decides to retire, he will have closed out the final lap of his career with a victory in a race suiting his nostalgia-tinged personality perfectly.

The Ghent Six Days, which dates back to 1922, is a race for pairs of riders competing on the track. Past winners include Belgian legend Eddy Merckx, and the event still has an 'old-school' feel.