Bradley Wiggins's Tour of Britain help 'surreal', says Owain Doull

The best home rider in this year's Tour of Britain to date, Owain Doull has attributed his strong start in the race in part to room-mate Bradley Wiggins.

Welshman Doull finished sixth for the second-consecutive stage in Kelso on Tuesday, having previously placed fourth in Sunday's opener on home soil in Wrexham.

The 22-year-old sits sixth overall, 14 seconds down on Movistar's Juan José Lobato, and the Team Wiggins leader says he's been invaluably helped by the squad's founder in the race's opening three days.

“It's been surreal having someone like Brad pulling on the front and taking risks for you,” he said. “It adds a bit of pressure, but it's good pressure I guess.

“I'm sharing a room with him as well, which is a good laugh. We tend to take the p**s out of people more than anything.”

Asked about Wiggins's famed impressions, Doull added: “He hasn't taught me any yet, but he does do a fair few. He may be doing [one of me] behind my back!”

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Doull and Britain's male team pursuit squad trained at altitude in Livigno, Italy, prior to the race, which is the reason for his slight surprise about his strong performances thus far in the event.

“I didn't know what to expect coming into the race as we'd done a big block at altitude in Livigno,” he said. “I came in carrying fatigue, I thought I'd be lacking my top end and that I'd come good in the back end [of the race]. It's quite surprising.”