Wiggins pulls out of Eneco Tour for family reasons

Bradley Wiggins has pulled out of the Eneco Tour, which starts on Tuesday, because of a family bereavement.

The Team Sky rider has been replaced by Chris Froome. Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen will lead Team Sky as he seeks to defend the race he won for HTC-Columbia last year.

The Eneco Tour was due to be Wiggins's first race since the Tour de France.

Sky's squad for the Eneco Tour will now be: Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Michael Barry, Boasson Hagen, Froome, Mat Hayman, Greg Henderson, Chris Sutton and Geraint Thomas. The eight-day race in Holland and Belgium starts with a short prologue and finishes with a longer individual time trial. The stages in between favour the Classics specialists.

Meanwhile, Team Sky will also be represented at the Tour du Limousin in France (August 17-20). Kjell Carlstrom, Dario Cioni, Russell Downing, Simon Gerrans, Thomas Löfkvist, Serge Pauwels and Morris Possoni will be the line-up there.

Wiggins's next race is set to be the British National Time Trial Championship in Wales on September 5, where he will be the defending champion. Froome and Thomas are Sky's other entrants. Wiggins will then ride the Tour of Britain (September 11-18).