Sir Bradley Wiggins to race Tour de Suisse as Chris Froome heads to Criterium du Dauphine
Last Updated: 02/06/14 11:11pm
Sir Bradley Wiggins will not be at Chris Froome’s side at this month’s key Tour de France warm-up race, the Criterium du Dauphine, Team Sky have revealed.
Froome is bidding to win the eight-day event in France for the second year in succession as he looks to fine-tune his form ahead of the defence of his Tour title in July.
Wiggins hopes to be selected alongside Froome in Team Sky’s nine-man Tour squad, but will ride the Tour de Suisse rather than join his fellow Briton at the Dauphine as the British squad look to win both races.
Team Sky Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: "Both the Criterium du Dauphine and Tour de Suisse are WorldTour events and we are looking to perform in both races.
"Bradley heads to Switzerland with a strong team after a great win in California and we've got the right group for the Dauphine, especially considering the nature of the course."
In form
The Criterium du Dauphine takes place in France from June 8-15, while the nine-day Tour de Suisse will run from June 14-22.
Both riders will carry good form into the respective races, with Froome having retained his Tour de Romandie crown in his last outing and Wiggins coming off overall victory at the Tour of California.
Barring injury or a drastic loss of form, Froome will lead Team Sky’s Tour team, but the Tour de Suisse will give Wiggins one final chance to stake his claim for a place.
Brailsford added: "Both of these races will form part of our selection for the Tour" he added. "We have to name 13 riders in a long list during June and we'll do that from across the squad, including riders at the Route du Sud, not only those in the Dauphine and Tour de Suisse groups."
Team Sky’s Criterium du Dauphine squad
Chris Froome, Richie Porte, Vasil Kiryienka, David Lopez, Mikel Nieve, Danny Pate, Geraint Thomas, Xabier Zandio.
Team Sky’s Tour de Suisse squad
Sir Bradley Wiggins, Joe Dombrowski, Christian Knees, Luke Rowe, Dario Cataldo, Philip Deignan, Ben Swift, Peter Kennaugh.
