Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish have delivered a scathing critique of the British Cycling Federation.

Wiggins, who has won five Olympic gold medals and eight world titles for Great Britain, spoke with Cavendish, who has won four world titles on road and track, during a Q&A session on Instagram over the weekend.

The conversation revolved around the Olympics, which were scheduled for this summer before a coronavirus outbreak forced a postponement, and Cavendish's exclusion from the British squad.

Cavendish had hoped to make the track team to compete in Madison and ultimately win Olympic gold. However, he failed to qualify for the Olympics because he was not selected for either the Track World Cup or the World Championships held in the winter.

"It's hard to go. British Cycling is ...... They realize now that they don't want to be in the position of not taking me," Cavendish told Wiggins in a Q&A.

"They said to me. They said to me, 'You're not running the World Cup. Since when do you have to run the World Cup? ' I finished my vacation in Thailand, went to Beijing, and won a medal at the World Cup."

Wiggins, who won the Madison world title with Cavendish in 2016, then turned the screw.

"That's what's missing in British cycling today. It's a great thing to have," said the former Tour de France champion.

Since Wiggins retired in 2016, in the face of a series of adverse episodes ranging from allegations of sexism and bullying to the Fancy Bears leak that revealed Wiggins' use of a therapeutic use exemption, the British sports governing body has undergone major changes CEO Ian Drake and key coach Shane Sutton both resigned, and endurance coach Heiko Salzwedel was abruptly fired under the new leadership of CEO Julie Harrington and performance director Stephen Park.

"As for you [Cavendish], we just opened some doors for you to qualify.

"Now it's gone. I'm hoping to qualify for all of the World Cups and get 10th at the Olympics. Honestly, I think it sucks, but cycling has changed a lot."

Cavendish later opined that Madison, the discipline he hoped to run in Tokyo, had been ruined by the UCI, which changed the rules at the end of 2016: the number of sprints in the 200-lap race doubled to one every 10 laps, and when a lap is earned, the group automatically Instead of being in front of the pack, one lap earned would only earn bonus points.

"Madison has changed anyway. Ironically, they say that Maddison is not the same, but in fact he is more suited to road riders.

"In my first world championship with Rob [Hales], we won with zero points. The other teams couldn't do a single lap. We got no points, but we did get a lap. But now it's like a points race: 200 laps, with a sprint every 10 laps ...... Only one speed, no time to recover or regain position. It actually suits the road riders, but it's chaos to watch."

In what must have been an awkward moment for British Cycling officials, the two concluded their conversation by revealing that they were asked to return the equipment they used to win major titles.

Pointing the bike that won him the title in the time trial at the 2012 London Olympics to the camera, Wiggins said: "I had no choice. I got this bike. 0]

Cavendish said. 'I still have my skinsuit, but they got theirs back. What are they going to do with it?" I show it to everyone and say, "Copy this.""

Wiggins added, "I still have my skinsuit, too. They don't have them. Don't be silly. They're trying to take it from me. They try to get it back. But we want to shred it. Don't be silly. Shred it." That's my memory.