Irish Road Race and Time-Trial champion Nicolas Roche has been announced on the Team Sky line-up for the forthcoming Tour of Britain.

It will be the first race for Roche after suffering from illness following his participation in the Olympics. He was forced off the bike for a time after competing in the road race in Rio, with Legionnaire’s disease being suspected as the cause of his sickness.

Roche had originally planned on taking part in the Vuelta a Espana but was forced to withdraw from the Spanish Grand Tour because of his illness.

He has already performed well in Britain this season, finishing second overall at the Tour de Yorkshire.

Team Sky’s six-man squad will be led by Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner Wout Poels, with Olympic gold medallist Elia Viviani also back in action for the first time since Rio and the Italian will be targeting the race’s sprint stages.

Ian Stannard, who finished third in this year’s edition of Paris-Roubaix, makes his first appearance in Team Sky colours since the Tour de France, where he played a key role in Chris Froome’s victory. Ben Swift and Danny van Poppel complete a strong team.

The Tour of Britain starts in Glasgow on Sunday 4 September and finishes in London the following weekend with stage finishes also in Castle Douglas, Kendal, Knutsford, Builth Wells, Bath and Dartmoor.

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