Bradley Wiggins is scheduled to make his return to competitive racing this weekend, as he assumes his prominent place in Sky’s six-man line up for the Tour of Poland which kicks off on Saturday.
Since abandoning the Giro d’Italia in May due to a knee injury and a chest infection Wiggins has not taken to the starting line in a competitive race, abandoning his title defense in the Tour de France. For Wiggins the Tour of Poland will be about getting his somewhat derailed season back on track in the seven-day race.
Last season Wiggins seemed to sweep up victories in stage races almost at will, putting his name on the winners’ list in Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie and the Critérium du Dauphiné before moving on to become the first British rider to win the Tour de France. During the current season, Wiggins has enjoyed success in the TTT at the Giro del Trentino and Giro d’Italia plus fifth overall at the Volta a Catalunya in the early spring.
These results have been dwarfed by the all-conquering achievements of his team-mate Chris Froome who replaced Wiggins as Tour de France winner last Sunday.
In the Polish race Wiggins will be joined by a trio that supported him during his ill-fated Giro d’Italia: Rigoberto Uran, Sergio Henao and Danny Pate. Like Wiggins, they all make their first race appearance since the Italian grand tour.
The Tour of Poland will be run under new, experimental conditions in an attempt by the International Cycling Union (UCI) to encourage attacking riding. Consequently, each team will be made up of six riders instead of the usual eight for a WorldTour race. Two young British riders, Luke Rowe and Ben Swift, complete the Sky squad.
Sky Procycling team for the Tour of Poland:
Sergio Henao, Danny Pate, Luke Rowe, Ben Swift, Rigoberto Urán, Bradley Wiggins
Leticia GALAN 34 years | today |
Sylvain DECHEREUX 36 years | today |
Saïd HADDOU 42 years | today |
Maité BARTHELS 23 years | today |
Magnus Lorents NIELSEN 21 years | today |
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