Sir Bradley Wiggins has confirmed his participation in the Tour of Britain, which gets underway on Sunday 4th September, alongside Team WIGGINS teammates Owain Doull and Jonathan Dibben.
Bath & North East Somerset Council will be hosting a stage finish of Britain’s premier cycling race for the first time on Thursday 8th September.
Stage five, which will begin in Aberdare, will finish on Royal Avenue, in Bath having crossed South Wales and Gloucestershire.
The 2012 Tour de France champion, who recently won his eighth Olympic medal as he took Gold in the Team Pursuit in Rio for Great Britain alongside Doull, will ride in Britain’s biggest professional cycle race for his own Team WIGGINS.
Alongside him will be Doull, who finished third overall in the Tour of Britain in 2015 and won the Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey.
The 23-year-old Welshman put in a stunningly consistent performance last September to finish in the top 10 on all bar one stage, helping him to an overall podium and top Brit.
Joining Wiggins and Doull will be 22-year-old Jonathan Dibben who will be riding his third Tour of Britain. The remaining three riders in the Team WIGGINS line-up will be confirmed closer to the race.
2016 will be the ninth edition of the modern Tour of Britain ridden by Sir Bradley Wiggins, with the five time Olympic Champion having ridden in the past four editions.
The World Hour Record holder won the 2013 Tour of Britain overall, and finished third in 2014 when he won the final stage time trial in central London.
Commenting on the news, Tour of Britain Race Director Mick Bennett said: “We are delighted to be welcoming two of our Olympic Champions to the Tour of Britain just three weeks after their success in Rio.
“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.”
The Team WIGGINS trio join the likes of Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel and Steve Cummings as already confirmed for the Tour of Britain, which begins in George Square in Glasgow on Sunday 4th September.
Councillor Martin Veal (Conservative, Bathavon North), Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “It’s going to be a fantastic festival of racing when the Tour of Britain comes to Bath and North East Somerset on September 8.
“On the back of last week’s announcement of Mark Cavendish’s participation we’ll now have Britain’s most decorated Olympian in Sir Bradley Wiggins, alongside fellow gold medallists Owain Doull.
“It will be a magnificent spectacle as they race to the finish in Royal Avenue in Bath.”
Three-hours of live coverage will be broadcast from each stage of the Tour of Britain, with both ITV4 and the BIKE Channel UK showing the race live, while ITV4 will also air a one-hour highlights programme each day.
The Tour of Britain is British Cycling’s premier road cycling event giving cycling fans the opportunity to see the world’s best teams and riders competing on their door step.
You can find out more about the Tour of Britain’s route through Bath, at www.bathnes.gov.uk/tourofbritain.
