Having missed several important races due to illness, Richie Porte and Team Sky have decided that he won't get ready in time for the Giro d'Italia. The Australian has changed his schedule and will now focus on the Tour de France while Bradley Wiggins prepares himself to lead Sky in Paris-Roubaix.

The squads for upcoming races confirm that Sir Bradley Wiggins will feature in a strong Team Sky line-up at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, and that Richie Porte will now focus on the Tour de France instead of racing the Giro d’Italia.

Wiggins came through a tough Tour of Flanders unscathed and will use Scheldeprijs on Wednesday as his final preparation race before taking part in his second Monument Classic of the season.

Joining Wiggins at Paris-Roubaix will be the same team that took part in Flanders on Sunday, with a formidable eight-man squad including: Geraint Thomas - who had an eighth place finish in Flanders - plus Edvald Boasson Hagen, Bernhard Eisel, Christian Knees, Salvatore Puccio, Gabriel Rasch and Luke Rowe.

Talking ahead of Paris-Roubaix, Team Sky Sport Director, Servais Knaven, said: “We had a good race at Flanders and the team rode well. Of course, we would have liked to have been on the podium but we had some crashes along the way, so Geraint’s eighth place finish was good considering what happened during the race.

"We have a very good group here, they’re all working hard for each other and they did a good job getting Geraint and Edvald near the front. It was Brad’s first race in Belgium this year and he finished well so he can be happy with his race.

“Now we look ahead to Paris-Roubaix. We will see how everybody is feeling over the next few days and then decide our plans for the race. We have a lot of riders who are racing well so it’s a nice position to be in.”

Wiggins will then take part in the Giro del Trentino, which runs between 22-25 April, and will be joined in Italy by both of Team Sky’s Italian riders – Dario Cataldo and Salvatore Puccio – plus Philip Deignan, Sebastian Henao, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Chris Sutton.

Richie Porte will join Chris Froome in Team Sky’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege line up on Sunday 27 April which also features Ian Boswell, Nathan Earle, Josh Edmondson, Peter Kennaugh, David Lopez and Danny Pate.

Liege-Bastogne-Liege will be preceded by the Amstel Gold Race (20 April) and La Fleche Wallonne (23 April), with Ian Boswell, Nathan Earle, Josh Edmondson, Peter Kennaugh, Danny Pate and Ben Swift set to ride both those races, while David Lopez and Mikel Nieve will replace Christian Knees and Geraint Thomas from the Amstel Gold Race roster.

Confirming Richie’s new plans, Team Sky’s Head of Performance Support, Tim Kerrison, said:

“Richie was always going to ride the Tour de France this year but this now means that he can fully focus on being in the best possible shape without having the added challenge of having to ride the Giro as well.

"He played an invaluable role in our Tour wins in 2012 and 2013 and we want him to do the same again this year. We’re always reviewing our line-ups and looking how we can best support our riders and give ourselves the best possible chance for success.”