Wiggins reportedly facing no further action after UK Anti-Doping probe - and could compete at Tokyo 2020

A UK Anti-Doping probe into a medical package apparently destined for Sir Bradley Wiggins at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné Sir Bradley Wiggins will not result in any action against the rider, according to a report in The Times.

However, Team Sky, which Wiggins rode for at the time, and British Cycling, whose former employee Simon Cope travelled to the Alps to deliver the package, are set to face criticism over issues such as their record-keeping.

News of the delivery of the package to the Team Sky bus at the end of the French stage race, which Wiggins had just won, came after it was revealed that he took a corticosteroid under a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) prior to the 2011 and 2012 editions of the Tour de France and the 2013 Giro d’Italia.

> Team Sky "confident no wrongdoing" over allegations against Wiggins

While the contents of the package have never been revealed, Team Sky Principal Sir Dave Brailsford and officials from British Cycling are due to appear before a Parliamentary Inquiry into doping in sport later this month and are likely to be quizzed on the issue.

Both the mystery package and the issue of TUEs have cast a shadow over the twilight of the career of the rider who, in 2012, became the first Briton to win the Tour de France and who this summer claimed his fifth Olympic gold medal.

Wiggins had planned to retire following the Ghent Six Day meeting last month, which he won with Mark Cavendish, but has been named in the Great Britain Cycling Team squad for 2017, which British Cycling said was to provide “flexibility” while he dedcides his future.

> Wiggins named in Great Britain Cycling Team squad for 2017

Great Britain’s men’s endurance coach, Heiko Salzwedel, has said that Wiggins could even compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, by which time the rider will be 40.

"There will always be a place for him," said Salzwedel, quoted on Eurosport.

"I believe that there’s more in the tank and so much left over,” he went on. “I don't want that being wasted, so if he's committed he can do it for another couple of years at least. I want to keep the door open and he has not confirmed his plans.

"He can carry on with the pursuit and the Madison and they're the key events. I wouldn't even rule him out of competing at the Olympics in 2020. Why not?

"For me age is no limit; it's all about performance. Over the years he has built up such an endurance level and he can still utilise that. He's always welcome.

"I'm not considering him for the Worlds next year but maybe in 2018,” he added.

"At the moment he's just enjoying his farewell tour and he's stopped being a fully committed athlete from a mental point of view. I just want to give him the time to now think about his situation and what he wants to do.”