Illness forces Wiggins out of Tour of Catalonia

Bradley Wiggins has pulled out of the Tour of Catalonia after he was struck down by an upset stomach over the weekend.

The Team Sky leader had been scheduled to ride the week-long ProTour-level stage race, which starts with a 3.6-kilometre prologue time trial in Lloret de Mar.

"Unfortunately, Bradley wasn't able to race in Spain this week, but we're going to assess the situation quickly and adjust his race programme so that nothing is jeopardised," said Team Sky prinicpal David Brailsford.

"He has already proven this year that he is well on his way form-wise so we'll be able to get him back into our race programme fairly easy. It's not uncommon that riders have to struggle with illness at this part of the season, but luckily Bradley has already been able to build up a lot form, so this won't be a setback."

Team Sky's line-up for Catalonia is now John-Lee Augustyn, Dario Cioni, Steve Cummings, Davide Vigano, Serge Pauwels and Chris Froome.

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