Team Sky announced its line-up for the 2014 Tour de France on Friday morning, and 2012 winner Sir Bradley Wiggins was not one of the names on the list.
There's no doubt that Wiggins is Britain's most recognisable road rider. Arguably, he's also the nation's most popular one. On top of all his other results on the track and road, his gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics time trial elevated him to household-name status.
Many were looking forward to witnessing the spectacle of Wiggins and 2013 Tour winner Chris Froome on British roads when the Grand Depart takes place in Leeds, Yorkshire, on Saturday July 5. Two British Tour winners starting the race on home soil - something that would have been a once-in-a-lifetime event.
For others, Wiggins would be 'dead weight' among Sky's Tour team, designed to be a finely-honed winning machine. The past animosity between Froome and Wiggins has been widely documented, and speculation is rife that it would be a management headache and detract from the team's functioning as a unit.
We asked you via Twitter what you thought of Wiggins' non-inclusion in this year's Tour, and here are a selection of your responses:
Team Sky announces squad for Tour de France: No Wiggins
Defending champion Chris Froome leads Team Sky at the 2014 Tour de France
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, n exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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