Sir Bradley Wiggins: Tour of Britain hopes Olympic champion will compete
Last updated on .From the section Cycling
Tour of Britain organisers hope 2013 winner Sir Bradley Wiggins will compete in the race for a possible final time as an Olympic champion.
Wiggins, 35, wants to ride on the track at the Olympics in Brazil in August ahead of a potential British finale.
Tour of Britain director Mick Bennett said: "The Wiggins team have verbally committed to me, and hopefully that can be a lap of honour for them with gold medals around their necks."
The tour runs from 4-11 September.
Wiggins, who won the Tour de France in 2012 and is a four-time Olympic gold medalist, is riding at the Track World Championships in London in March.
"Bradley is such an icon, such a rock star, and it would be great for him to tour the country before closing down an amazing career," added Bennett.
| Tour of Britain stage-by-stage | |
|---|---|
| Stage One: Sunday, 4 September | Glasgow to Castle Douglas (168 kilometres) |
| Stage Two: Monday, 5 September | Carlisle to Kendal (195km) |
| Stage Three: Tuesday, 6 September | Congleton to Tatton Park, Knutsford (182km) |
| Stage Four: Wednesday, 7 September | Denbigh to Builth Wells (217km) |
| Stage Five: Thursday, 8 September | Aberdare to Bath (205km) |
| Stage Six: Friday, 9 September | Sidmouth to Haytor, Dartmoor (150km) |
| Stage Seven (a): Saturday, 10 September | Bristol Individual Time Trial (15km) |
| Stage Seven (b): Saturday, 10 September | Bristol Circuit Race (76.5km) |
| Stage Eight: Sunday, 11 September | London (100km) |
"I don't know if this will be the toughest edition of the race yet but I think it should be the most exciting, and it's certainly the most spectator-friendly.
"Spectators will be able to see far more of the race than ever before."
The eight-stage Tour - which will coincide with the Vuelta a Espana in Spain - will begin in Glasgow before taking the riders through the Lake District, Cheshire, Denbighshire and south Wales.
It will feature a return to the popular summit finish at Haytor on Dartmoor, a split-stage in Bristol, which includes a time-trial and a five-lap road race, ahead of the circuit finish in London.
Last year's race was won by Edvald Boasson Hagen, racing for the MTN-Qhubeka team, which is now known as Team Dimension Data and includes British sprinter Mark Cavendish.
