Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish ended the Track World Championships in London with a dramatic win for the host nation in the Madison event, a result that left Britain top of the medals table.

The pair, who have both tasted multiple successes in the Tour de France, claimed the fifth gold medal of the five-day Championships, the overall tally of nine beating Germany by one.

The popular pair capped a successful week for British cycling with a masterful ride in the two-man Madison, winning early sprints to collect points before launching a late attack that pipped the French pair of Morgan Kneisky and Benjamin Thomas for gold.

It was a particularly sweet success for the British riders as the race represented Wiggins’ last competitive ride on the velodrome where he set the world hour record last year and Cavendish is still trying to prove his worth to gain selection for the omnium in the Rio Olympics.

“It’s my last race on this track so it wasn’t a bad one was it?” said Wiggins who kissed the track at the end of his winning ride.

“We knew we had the legs the later we got into the race so we kept biding our time because we knew everyone else was on their knees. It was now or never, we didn’t come here to finish fourth, but that was bloody hard!”

Cavendish and Wiggins rode together to win the Madison in 2008 and to add to the drama in London, he survived a late crash, swapping bikes before crossing the finishing line.

“It’s our second World Championship together, I’m so happy,” said Cavendish. “We rode together eight years ago and this is one of the last times we will ride together. It’s incredible.”