Sir Bradley Wiggins has dismissed the marginal gains process at the centre of British Cycling's success under Sir Dave Brailsford as "a load of rubbish".

Wiggins was also critical of fellow Olympic gold-medallist Victoria Pendleton and sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters, who worked with Brailsford at British Cycling and Team Sky and created the "chimp paradox" model for dealing with pressure.

Former Olympic champion Chris Boardman originally headed up British Cycling's "Secret Squirrel Club", now known as "Room X" under head of technical development Tony Purnell, to find any slight advantage through modifications to bike technology and riders' clothing.

Bradley Wiggins best moments Show all 8 1 /8 Bradley Wiggins best moments Bradley Wiggins best moments 2004 Olympics Wins gold in Athens for the Individual Pursuit, silver in the Team Pursuit and Bronze with Rob Hayles in the Madison. Becomes first Briton since 1964 to win three medals at one Olympic games. Bradley Wiggins best moments 2008 Olympics Defends Olympic Individual Pursuit title with gold in Beijing. Two days later wins gold in the Team Pursuit alongside Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas and Paul Manning. Bradley Wiggins best moments 2009 Tour de France Finishes four in the Tour de France, matching highest-ever placing by a British rider at that point. Bradley Wiggins best moments 2012 Tour de France Becomes first British winner of the Tour de France in its 99-year history. Bradley Wiggins best moments 2012 Olympics Just 10 days after sealing his Tour triumph, Wiggins clinched gold in the Olympic time trial to cement his status as one of the sport's best. This was his fourth Olympic gold medal. Bradley Wiggins best moments 2014 world time-trial title Wiggins produced one of the finest single performances of his career to beat rival Tony Martin by 26 seconds and secure the world time-trial title. Bradley Wiggins best moments UCI Hour Record The hour record is one of cycling's oldest and most prestigious events. The Briton was looking to beat Alex Dowsett’s record of 52.937km and not only achieved that, but did so by a margin of 1.589km. Bradley Wiggins best moments 2016 Olympics Five-star Wiggins. The Briton secured his fifth gold medal at the Olympics, racing to victory in the Men's Team Pursuit in Rio.

Wiggins won eight Olympic medals, including five golds, as well as the Tour de France for Brailsford's Team Sky, but speaking at a corporate event reported on by Eurosport, he said "A lot of people made a lot of money out of it and David Brailsford used it constantly as his calling card, but I always thought it was a load of rubbish.

"It's a bit like the whole chimp thing. At the end of the day, chimp theories and marginal gains and all these buzzwords - a lot of the time, I just think you have got to get the fundamentals right: go ride your bike, put the work in, and you're either good or you're not good.

"Sometimes in life or in sport, whatever, you're either good at something or you're not. That's what makes you a better athlete: your physical ability and whether you've trained enough - not whether you've slept on a certain pillow or mattress."

Pendleton, who won sprint gold at Beijing 2008 and the keirin at London 2012, has credited Dr Peters as a major part of her success.

But Wiggins said: "Vicky's a bit of a milkshake anyway. You can overanalyse things but at the end of the day, it's about your ability and whether you're a better athlete than the other person or not.

"Whether you've come to grips with this other person living inside you, it's all a bit... well, each to his own. That may work with some people, but as Roy Keane would say: it's utter nonsense."