Sir Bradley Wiggins abandons on stage one of Tour de Yorkshire
The 2012 Tour de France winner abandoned on stage one of the Tour de Yorkshire after spending much of the day at the back of the peloton
Sir Bradley Wiggins has abandoned the Tour de Yorkshire around 30km from the finish of stage one between Beverly and Settle, which was won by LottoNL-Jumbo rider Dylan Groenewegen.
The 2012 Tour de France winner came to the race with the intention of building his form towards the team pursuit at August’s Rio Olympics, but his abandonment will be a blow to both cycling fans and race organisers, who would have hoped to use his star power to build on the success of last year’s race.
Watch highlights of stage one of the Tour de Yorkshire
Wiggins was involved in a crash in the early kilometres of the race, spending much of the day at the rear of the peloton (you heard it here first!) and was dropped by the bunch as they reached the only categorised climb of the day, the Cote de Greenhow Hill, about 50km from the finish.
The former time trial world champion battled on for a few kilometres, but eventually climbed into the team car ahead of a rolling parcours at the end of the stage, evidently deciding his Olympic ambitions would be better served by rest and recovery over the Bank Holiday weekend.