Team Sky announces squad for Tour de France: No Wiggins

Team Sky has announced its nine-man roster for the 2014 Tour de France, starting in Leeds on Saturday, July 5 – and Bradley Wiggins is not among them.

Defending Tour de France champion Chris Froome heads up the team, which includes a strong support line-up for the British rider comprising Richie Porte (Australia), Geraint Thomas (Great Britain), Mikel Nieve (Spain), Bernhard Eisel (Austria), Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus), David Lopez (Spain), Danny Pate (USA) and Xabier Zandio (Spain).

“Team Sky returns to the Tour de France with the reigning champion and we are looking to win the yellow jersey for the third time in three years and a second consecutive time for Chris Froome,” said Sky team principal Dave Brailsford. “Defending champion Chris Froome is an exceptional talent, a brilliant stage racer, and he’ll lead the team.”

Commenting on Wiggins’ omission from the line-up, Brailsford said: “It has been a golden decade for cycling. Bradley Wiggins lies at the heart of a lot of that success, and although he has not been selected for this race he is still a key member of Team Sky and a great champion.”

Wiggins confirmed last night that he would not be part of Sky’s line-up for the Tour. Directly after winning the British time trial title in Wales, Wiggins told the media: “I’d have liked to have been there. It came down that there was a cut-off point, and having gone back to train on the track early, I didn’t have the preparation for the Tour. It’s disappointing on an personal level, but I think from a team point of view it’s probably the strongest team possible as it stands today.”

“The team they’re sending is an incredible team. They’ve got the defending champion who has got to be the favourite to win it, they’ve got the likes of Geraint Thomas who could take the British road title on Sunday and take the jersey to the Tour. I think the team that’s going, you couldn’t fault it. With my crash in Switzerland, I was probably lacking preparation, and there were probably eight better guys in front of me.”

Just after Sky’s Tour roster was revealed on Friday morning, British Cycling announced that Wiggins would join the England track team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in addition to riding in the time trial.