Millar: Tour champ Wiggins will repay Cavendish in London

(CNN) -- Newly-crowned Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has been backed to aid fellow Briton Mark Cavendish's quest for Olympic gold in Saturday's 250-kilometer road race.

The Londoner became Britain's first winner of cycling's toughest test last weekend, while sprint star Cavendish won the Tour's final stage in Paris for the fourth year in a row despite sacrificing his hopes of retaining the green jersey.

Wiggins' triumph owed much to the hard work of his fellow Team Sky riders, including Cavendish and fellow British Olympian Chris Froome, who finished second in the overall standings.

And after leading out Cavendish for his victorious burst along the Champs Elysees, Wiggins is being tipped to guide his compatriot to a first Olympic medal in the opening cycling event of the Games.

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"I think Bradley will go to the Olympics with the aim of repaying Mark Cavendish for his work and sacrifice in the quest for the yellow jersey," Robert Millar, who finished fourth and was named King of the Mountains in the 1984 Tour, told CNN.

"In a way, having the Olympics in London will be more motivation for Bradley to keep things together for just a little longer."

The race, which starts with nine laps of Box Hill in the county of Surrey and finishes in the shadows of Buckingham Palace, will see hoards of British cycling fans line the streets in a bid to spur their Tour heroes on to medals.

Wiggins is already a three-time gold medal winner after successful Games on the track in Athens and Beijing, so it possible the Londoner could struggle for motivation in the wake of his historic achievement?

"After the Tour there's a sense of anticlimax," Millar said. "The most important race of the year is over and you have to decompress, let the stresses go."

The Scot, who never went to an Olympics, believes Wiggins can emulate his previous track success on the road, where he will also compete in the time trial.

"Regarding track cycling and confidence, I'm sure the mental preparations and processes you go through at an Olympics are similar to what you experience at the top level on the road," he said.

"The Tour is over a longer time scale but the insecurities you may have, anguish and stresses you encounter will need similar management.

"Confidence comes from doing well, meeting your targets, hitting the objectives, and when you do that and have good support around you then that builds and builds."