Bradley Wiggins kisses his yellow jersey after winning the individual time trial and effectively securing the Tour de France 2012 overall title. (Image credit: View over Abinger Hammer cricket ground as the peloton ride by fans in the Surrey countryside sitting in their local watering hole)
Bradley Wiggins leading the Vuelta in 2011(Image credit: AFP)
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) continues his search for form(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) in action(Image credit: Sirotti)
Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Bradley Wiggins (Sky) signs autographs at the Eneco Tour(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Team Sky has confirmed that 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins will lead the team at the Tour of Britain later this month. Wiggins, who missed this year’s Tour de France, will use the British race as part of his build up to the Worlds later in the month.
Wiggins will be joined by Ian Stannard, Josh Edmondson, Bernhard Eisel, Mathew Hayman and David Lopez, in Sky’s six-man line-up.
"I'm really looking forward to the Tour of Britain; it's a race I’m fond of and it’s nice to see it growing in stature each year,” Wiggins announced on Sky’s team website.
“The crowds and the roads make it special and it’s always very humbling to see the fantastic support that we get from the public. I’m coming into the race feeling really good. It finishes in close proximity to the world time trial championships which is my main late-season goal. The Tour of Britain is always a tough event and I’m looking forward to getting started."
The race starts on September 15 with a 201km stage from Peebles - Drumlanrig Castle. The race may start in Scotland but over the following days it travels through the north of England, and Wales, before a finishing stage in London on September 22.
Wiggins was forced to abandon the race last year due to illness but with a 16k time trial on stage 3 this year, he is one of the pre-race favourites for the overall win.
Sky will be joined at the race by four other WorldTour teams Garmin-Sharp, Movistar, Omega Pharma and Cannondale. However, last year’s defending champion, Jonathan Tiernan Locke – now with Team Sky – has not been selected.
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