Tour of Britain: Team Sky name four home riders in six-man squad

Team Sky have named four home riders in their six-man squad for the Aviva Tour of Britain, which starts in north Wales on Sunday.

English pair Ben Swift and Ian Stannard, Manxman Peter Kennaugh and Scotland's Andrew Fenn will be joined by the Netherlands' Wout Poels and Italy's Elia Viviani.

The eight-day race begins in Beaumaris and ends with its traditional sprint stage in central London on Sunday, September 13.

Swift said: "The Tour of Britain has become one of the stand-out races in the cycling calendar.

"It's a very special feeling to race in front of your home fans and see the fantastic support that we get every year. Cycling has never been more popular in the UK and the crowds at the Tour of Britain get bigger with each edition of the race, which is great to see.

"This will be my seventh appearance at this race and I know just how tough the British roads can be, but we have a strong team and we'll certainly be challenging for stage wins and the overall GC."

This year's Tour of Britain includes five stages that could end in a sprint and Team Sky have consequently selected three of their fastest finishers in Swift, Viviani and Fenn.

Swift also specialises in the rolling terrain that much of the race will takes place over and is therefore likely to be the team's main general classification hope.

Stannard and Poels will provide horsepower on the flat and hills respectively, while British road road champion Kennaugh is an all-rounder who is likely to fulfill a variety of roles.