Cycling: Bradley Wiggins to miss British title defence

Bradley Wiggins is to sit out the defence of his British Championships title this weekend, Team Sky have confirmed.

The 32-year-old Londoner is one of the favourites for the Tour de France, which begins in Liege on 30 June, and will miss Sunday’s British Championships road race in Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, to fine tune his preparations.

Mark Cavendish and Chris Froome are also set to miss the race to prepare for the Tour and Olympic track stars Geraint Thomas, the 2010 champion, and Peter Kennaugh will also be absent.

Five Team Sky riders are competing, with Alex Dowsett, Jeremy Hunt, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and Ben Swift all riding.

Dowsett is aiming to add the road race title to the time-trial championship he won last September, while Hunt will be gunning for his third title after successes in 1997 and 2001.

Team Sky race coach Rod Ellingworth said: “In an ideal world we’d have our full British contingent competing, but with the Tour de France and Olympics now very much on the horizon, it simply isn’t possible.

“Bradley, Chris and Mark are all fine-tuning their condition ahead of a busy summer on the road, while Pete and Geraint are now mid-way through a crucial block of Olympic track training.”