Froome withdraws from World Champs time trial
Chris Froome has withdrawn from Wednesday's World Championship individual time trial, and will instead concentrate his efforts on Sunday's road race.
British Cycling confirmed on Monday that Froome would not take part in the TT event in Limburg, Netherlands. The British rider has had a heavy schedule over the summer, coming second in the Tour de France in July, winning bronze in the Olympic Games time trial and then placing fourth in the Vuelta a Espana earlier this month.
Froome was seen as a contender for a podium position in the individual time trial event.
GB will now be solely represented by Alex Dowsett in the men's TT with no late replacement for Froome. Tour de France winner and Olympic TT champion Bradley Wiggins had already said that he would not take part in the time trial, and will also focus on the road race.
Tour of Britain winner Jonathan Tiernan-Locke is also part of Britain's nine-man road race team alongside 2011 champion Mark Cavendish, Wiggins, Froome, Dowsett, Ben Swift, Vuelta stage winner Steve Cummings, Tour of Britain stage winner Luke Rowe and British national champion Ian Stannard.
The gruelling 261-kilometre World Championship road race takes place on undulating course. Cavendish is not expected to be in contention to defend his rainbow jersey, but no clear plan has been suggested by British Cycling as to who the squad's team leader will be. At least, not out in the open...
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Road World Championships 2012: Coverage index
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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