Bradley Wiggins out of Tour of Britain
Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins today withdrew from the Tour of Britain due to illness ahead of stage six which began in Welshpool.
The Team Sky rider was a non-starter on today's sixth stage which began at Powis Castle this morning and continued along the Shropshire/Wales border before this afternoon's finish in Caerphilly.
Team Sky wrote on website Twitter: "Unfortunately Bradley Wiggins was unable to start stage six of the Tour of Britain today after picking up a stomach bug."
The 32-year-old won the Tour de France on July 22 and followed that with his fourth Olympic gold on August 1.
He was 41st overall after stage five to Stoke, 12 minutes three seconds behind race leader Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge).
An estimated 5,000 people watched the start of the race this morning with the riders making their way through Montgomery, Kerry and Newtown en route to Caerphilly.
Luke Rowe, a Team Sky colleague of Wiggins and Cavendish, said: "It is marvellous to be in Wales for this stage of the Tour of Britain and even more special for me because I am from Cardiff.
"I have family and friends amongst the crowd and it is a wonderful occasion. You can really see that so many more people have lined the route this year, hopefully cycling really is becoming a major sport in this country.
"This year's race has been really good for me and I am looking now to push on and keep working hard and hoping the wins come."
Meanwhile, despite pulling out of the Tour of Britain, Wiggins has been named in Great Britain's squad for next week's World Road Championships in Holland, although his situation will be monitored ahead of the September 23 road race, when Cavendish will line up to defend his title.
