Sir Bradley Wiggins will take part in the Tour of Britain, which gets under way on September 4 and comes to Cheshire on September 6.

Wiggins, who claimed his fifth Olympic gold medal at Rio and his eighth cycling medal overall, will race alongside fellow Olympic gold medallist Owain Doull and Jonathan Dibben under the Team Wiggins banner.

This will be the ninth Tour of Britain race that Wiggins has competed in and increases the profile of the event, which has already benefited from the great success of Britain’s cyclists in Brazil and Chris Froome becoming the first British three-time winner of the Tour de France.

Cheshire East Council leader Rachel Bailey said: “This is tremendous news for the tour and can only further increase interest in this fantastic event.

“We are very proud to be hosting a stage fully within Cheshire East and look forward with great anticipation to seeing the roads of the borough lined with our residents enjoying this very special occasion.”

The Cheshire stage of the Tour of Britain starts in Congleton and ends at Tatton Park on September 6.