Wiggins will not defend national time trial title
Rider's agent denies Wiggins will make surprise return to national championships
Cyclingnews understands that Bradley Wiggins will not defend his British national time trial title next week. A report emerged earlier this week that Wiggins had made a late decision to ride against the clock at the national championships, due to take place on Thursday, June 25.
Wiggins won last year’s event in Monmouthshire, Wales, beating teammate Geraint Thomas by over a minute on the 26-mile test. It was his third title - after winning in 2009 - and 2010, and, he said, his last. Wiggins' agent Julian Henry confirmed to Cyclingnews that the new Hour Record holder was not set to race at the national championships in Cadwell Park.
Wiggins set a new Hour Record at the start of this month, pushing the benchmark to 54.526 at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London. He was due to make his first appearance on the track since his record-breaking ride at the 6 days of Roses at the Velodrome in Fiorenzuola d'Arda, which begins on June 28. However, Wiggins has pulled out of the event and has recommended Great Britain teammate Stephen Burke as his replacement.
According to the organiser Claudio Santi, posting on his Facebook page earlier today, Wiggins' recovery from his Hour Record attempt has been "harder than expected."
While he's not competing in the event, Wiggins is due to travel to Italy for an altitude training camp.
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Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.