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Tuesday, September 02, 2008, 23:00
Fresh from winning two gold medals in the velodrome at the Beijing Olympics to add to the gold, silver and bronze he won in Athens four years ago, Wiggins is now hoping to reproduce that form on the road and add the domestic tour title to his glittering array of honours.
But in order to do so first he must conquer the notorious rolling hills of Mid Devon, which stand in his way on Stage 3 of this year's event.
Next Tuesday, the tour will pass through Hemyock, Willand, Tiverton, Witheridge and South Molton.
The third stage will begin in Chard, Somerset, at 10am and head to Hemyock, which the cream of the world's road racers are expected to reach at 10.50am.
Wiggins, who will be racing for Team Columbia, and the rest of the pack will then continue to Willand for about 11am before reaching Tiverton 20 minutes later.
After racing down Post Hill and past Blundell's School, the field will travel on to Great Western Way and into the town centre.
From there the riders will head up Barrington Street, on to William Street and back down Bampton Street before heading on to Fore Street and Angel Hill.
The cyclists will then pass the Heathcoat factory to tackle Longdrag Hill on the way to Witheridge, where they are expected to arrive at 11.45am.
The route then completes its rapid tour around Mid Devon with a visit to South Molton (12.10pm) in order to complete 82km in just over two hours.
The field then passes through North Molton before going back over the border into Somerset.
The 185km stage will finish at Burnham-on-Sea at 2.45pm.
Other well-known riders due to take part in the tour include Geraint Thomas, who also won gold in Beijing, Olympic bronze medallist Chris Newton and Mark Cavendish, who won four stages at this year's Tour de France.
Reigning British champion Rob Hayles, who won bronze alongside Wiggins at the 2004 Olympics, and last year's king of the mountains Ben Swift will compete for the Great Britain team.
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