Paris - Bradley Wiggins has ruled himself out of participating in the Tour de France after the 2012 champion hinted that Team Sky are unlikely to select him in their squad, the Briton said on Friday.
“Right now, I think I can tell you that I will not ride the Tour de France,” Wiggins told France sports daily L'Equipe after he was overlooked for the Dauphine Librere, a key Tour warmup event in southeastern France.
“I was ready to go. But in the last weeks, it has become clear that unless something happens to (Chris) Froome at the Dauphine, I will not ride the Tour. That's it.”
Fellow Briton Froome won the Tour last year And is favourite to repeat the triumph in the July 5-27 race that starts in Yorkshire.
Wiggins said he discussed the situation with team manager Dave Brailsford two days ago.
“He said that if Froome got injured... I could help Richie Porte, for instance,” Wiggins recalled.
“It's personally disappointing but one can understand when they picked that team (for the Dauphine.”
Wiggins, who will instead ride in the Tour of Switzerland, added he could leave the team to further his ambitions of riding in the Tour again.
“If I want to do the Tour, I will probably have to leave Sky.”
Reuters