Wiggins looks set to swerve Tour of Britain in favour of Vuelta

BRADLEY Wiggins looks set to swerve the Tour of Britain once again after the route for the 2010 race was announced on Tuesday.

GOING ABROAD: Bradley Wiggins looks set to opt out of competing in this year's Tour of Britain in September (Getty Images)

The 29-year-old looks poised to opt for the Vuelta a Espana, scheduled to run from August 28 to September 19, rather than the Tour of Britain, set to take place between September 11-18.

The Tour of Britain will this year begin in with a stage from Rochdale to Blackpool and end with a final-stage circuit race in Newham - one of the five boroughs of the London 2012 Olympics.

But Wiggins looks set to opt for the Vuelta, revealing his concerns that the Tour of Britain will favour the sprinters.

"No TT [time trial] again in race around Britain, looks like a race for the sprinter again, looks like Vuelta this year then," he wrote on his Twitter page.

Despite Wiggins' absence, Team Sky, under the stewardship of British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford, will fancy their chances of a home victory.

Ben Swift's victory on stage seven of the 2009 race was the first British success for two years, but Team Sky will also have last year's overall winner Edvald Boasson Hagen in their ranks.

2010 Tour of Britain stages:

Stage 1 Rochdale to Blackpool (126km)

Stage 2 Stoke-on-Trent (160km)

Stage 3 Newton to Swansea (150km)

Stage 4 Minehead to Teignmouth (171km)

Stage 5 Tavistock to Glastonbury (176km)

Stage 6 King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth (189km)

Stage 7 Bury St Edmunds to Colchester (151km)

Stage 8 London (100km)