Owain Doull has confirmed his participation in the Tour of Britain, which gets underway on Sunday 4 September, alongside Sir Bradley Wiggins and Jonathan Dibben for Team WIGGINS.
Doull finished third overall in the Tour of Britain in 2015 and won the Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey. The 23-year-old Welshman put in a stunningly consistent performance last September to finish in the top 10 on all bar one stage, helping him to an overall podium and top Brit.
Sir Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 Tour de France champion, who recently won his eighth Olympic medal as he took Gold in the Team Pursuit in Rio for Great Britain alongside Doull, will ride in Britain’s biggest professional cycle race for his own Team WIGGINS.
Joining Wiggins and Doull will be 22-year-old Jonathan Dibben who will be riding his third Tour of Britain. The remaining three riders in the Team WIGGINS line-up will be confirmed closer to the race.
2016 will be the ninth edition of the modern Tour of Britain ridden by Sir Bradley Wiggins, with the five time Olympic Champion having ridden in the past four editions. The World Hour Record holder won the 2013 Tour of Britain overall, and finished third in 2014 when he won the final stage time trial in central London.
Commenting on the news, Tour of Britain Race Director Mick Bennett said: “We are delighted to be welcoming two of our Olympic Champions to the Tour of Britain just three weeks after their success in Rio.
“As a former winner of the Tour of Britain it is always a pleasure to welcome Sir Bradley Wiggins back to Britain’s biggest race, while Owain Doull was the star of the 2015 Tour, showing he has a very bright future ahead of him.”
The Team WIGGINS trio join the likes of Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel and Steve Cummings as already confirmed for the Tour of Britain, which begins in George Square in Glasgow on Sunday 4 September.
Tour of Britain in Wales
The longest stage of the 2016 Tour of Britain will be Stage Four on Wednesday 7 September with a gruelling day in the saddle comprising of 217 kilometres through the heart of Mid-Wales and Denbighshire, Flintshire and Powys.
Not only will it be the longest day for the riders but will also see them tackle the most climbing, with a total ascent of 4,133m, as they feel the force of the Welsh mountains with the stage heading through the Clwydian Hills and Cambrian Mountains.
Starting in Denbigh the race will head first into Flintshire and Mold before going south to Corwen and crossing into Powys, running along the outskirts of Snowdonia National Park. The peloton will then continue south, passing through Rhayader, before the fast run in to Builth Wells and the finish on the Royal Welsh Showground in a day that will surely prove crucial to the destination of the leader's yellow jersey.
Stage Five will prove to be another tough day on the road on Thursday 8 September, covering 194.5 kilometres and 3,292m of climbing, taking the Tour of Britain across South Wales and into Gloucestershire and the finish in the stunning UNESCO World Heritage city of Bath.
Rolling out from Aberdare in Rhondda Cynon Taf the race will head east through Pontypool and Usk before running through the Forest of Dean and up along the Severn Estuary into Gloucester.
Coming out of the cathedral city the riders will head south into the Cotswolds before passing through Stroud and Dursley as they make their way to the finish in the picturesque city of Bath, the second time the modern race will have visited the city, but the first time it has hosted a stage finish.
How to watch
Three-hours of live coverage will be broadcast from each stage of the Tour of Britain, with both ITV4 and the BIKE Channel UK showing the race live, while ITV4 will also air a one-hour highlights programme each day.
The Tour of Britain is British Cycling’s premier road cycling event giving cycling fans the opportunity to see the world’s best teams and riders competing on their door step.
