Wiggins Confirms Participation in Commonwealth Games

June 11, 2014 – Bradley Wiggins is to compete for England at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow it was announced Wednesday, just days after he effectively ruled himself out of this year’s Tour de France. Wiggins, who in 2012 became the first British winner of cycling’s most prestigious road race, appeared unhappy that the Sky team appeared to be concentrating all their efforts on last-year’s winner Chris Froome.

“The team is focused around Chris Froome,” Wiggins, 34, said last week. “I am gutted. I’ve worked extremely hard for this throughout the winter and up to the summer. I feel I am in the form I was two years ago. I’ve been working towards that all season. It’s disappointing because it would perhaps have been my last Tour de France,” added Wiggins, who didn’t compete in last year’s Tour.

On top of his 2012 triumph, Wiggins has won four Olympic gold medals both on the track and the road and so will be a strong addition to an English cycling team that includes fellow Olympic champions Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell, Dani King, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke, Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes.

“This cycling team is undoubtedly the best we have ever seen selected for Team England,” said Chef de Mission Jan Paterson after the squad was announced Wednesday. “To have eight Olympic champions line up alongside previous Commonwealth Games medallists and some supremely talented younger athletes is genuinely exciting for us. Whether it’s on the track, the road or at the mountain bike course, cycling fans are in for a treat when Team England are competing.”

Technical director Shane Sutton added: “I believe we have selected a very strong team for this year’s Commonwealth Games, and it’s great that we have such a talented pool of English cyclists to select from. I speak on behalf of all the team when I say we can’t wait for the racing to begin in Glasgow.”

The Commonwealth Games’ opening ceremony takes place on July 23, with events commencing on the following day.