Cycling: Wiggins Follows French Route

Britain's Olympic track pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins will race on the road with the French professional team Cofidis for the next two years in a deal which both parties hope will support his build-up to the Beijing games and his bid to win the Tour de France prologue time-trial.

"I had a few options but Cofidis seemed the most actively interested and they were happy with my objectives," said the Londoner, who will build the middle of next season around preparing for the Tour's prologue, over six kilometres in Strasbourg. He is unlikely to return to a major track championship until 2008.

"My goals are quite specific. For example come 2007 all I will want is to win the Tour prologue in London," he added. Confirmation that the Tour will start in the English capital is expected in the next few weeks. "Cofidis seem to like that. What I've learned this year is that you need specific targets otherwise you just ride round at 80% all the time."

Cofidis is well known to cycling fans and was led by the Scot David Millar until his dismissal last year amid a police investigation into drugs use by team members. Since then the team has been restructured, something that appeals to Wiggins. "Their philosophy is to have a lot of young guys. The average age of the team will drop by five years over the winter, and there are 19 guys leaving this year out of 27. They've not signed any big guys, there is no big leader, and that means I should get more freedom to target the races I want to."