Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins has been left out of his Credit Agricole team's Tour de France squad, even after a strong showing in the Giro d'Italia last month. His omission, barring a late call-up, means there will be no British riders on the Tour for a second straight year, the first such occurrence since 1955. At the age of 25 he still has many seasons ahead of him and it appears that this year has been a season to find his stage racing feet, after spending many years as a track specialist.
Wiggins' only chance of a place in the squad is if one of the first-choice riders falls ill or suffers an injury in the various national championships which take place across Europe this weekend. So, although the TdF is not for him, Bradley will be able to concentrate on the Tour of Britain and then the world individual time trial in Madrid in September. He will ride in Otley tonight and the Nationals on Sunday, which looks set to be great race.
"I'm not too disappointed because I was half expecting the news," he told the Guardian yesterday.
"Places in the team are at a premium and there are too many guys in form."
Charly Wegelius (Liquigas) is in a similar position but may ride the Vuelta later this year.
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