Wiggins to ride the Tour of Britain after Olympic success
Doull and Dibben also confirmed as starters
Bradley Wiggins will join Mark Cavendish on the start list of the Tour of Britain next month, the organisers have confirmed. The race will be Wiggins' first appearance on the road in four months and his first race since winning gold on the track in the team pursuit at the Rio Olympic Games.
Wiggins' fellow gold medallist and trade teammate Owain Doull has also been confirmed as a starter for the week-long race. Doull and Wiggins secured gold in emphatic style, along with Ed Clancy and Steven Burke, in the team pursuit, giving Doull his first Olympic medal while Wiggins claimed his fifth gold.
"We are delighted to be welcoming two of our Olympic Champions to the Tour of Britain just three weeks after their success in Rio," said race director Mick Bennett. "As a former winner of the Tour of Britain, it is always a pleasure to welcome Sir Bradley Wiggins back to Britain’s biggest race, while Owain Doull was the star of the 2015 Tour, showing he has a very bright future ahead of him."
This will be Wiggins' eighth start at the Tour of Britain since 2008, missing it only once in that time in favour of the Vuelta a Espana in 2011. He claimed victory at his home race in 2013. For Doull, the race will be one of his last with the WIGGINS team as he is set to step up to WorldTour level with Team Sky next season. Doull capped off a strong 2015 season with third place overall at last year's edition and snapped up the points classification.
Team Wiggins' Jon Dibben has also been confirmed as a starter. Dibben enjoyed a very strong start to the season with his first world title on the track in the points race and second at the junior Tour of Flanders. The 22-year-old looked set to make up part of Great Britain's team pursuit line-up in Rio but saw his hopes all but dashed when he broke his elbow at the ZLM Roompot Toer in March. Dibben is currently racing in British colours at the Tour de l'Avenir where he sits third in the overall classification.
Other riders that have already been confirmed for the Tour of Britain are Cavendish, Andre Greipel, Steve Cummings, Mark McNally and Boy van Poppel. Italian media has also reported that Elia Viviani and Giacomo Nizzolo will compete at the race which begins in Glasgow on September 4 and finishes in London on Sunday 11.
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