The story has been rumbling on for several months, Garmin Slipstream have repeatedly denied that Bradley Wiggins will compete elsewhere in 2010, but the British media is still speculating that the rider will be part of Team Sky next year.
According to the Guardian newspaper, the final lineup of the new ProTour squad will be finalised and announced within the next ten days, and Wiggins will be part of the team.
The Briton finished fourth in this year’s Tour de France, making a completely unexpected transformation from track specialist to Grand Tour contender. Team Sky’s David Brailsford and others have said that he’d be very welcome if he was able to find a way out of his current contract.
Brailsford wasn’t giving anything away at the track World Cup in Manchester, but did say that final preparations are being made.
“All is in place and we’re very excited, raring to go,” said Brailsford to the Guardian. “We’re all nearly done now, all looking good.”
He was asked if a household name is likely to be announced, but remained coy. “You’ll find that out when they’re revealed. They’re all big names in Team Sky.”
However the newspaper is confident enough that its information is correct that it ran with the headline: ‘Bradley Wiggins poised to be part of Team Sky’s 2010 line-up’. Time will show if that is actually the case, or if it is simply wishful thinking on the part of his home media.