Bradley Wiggins finished third in the Tour of Britain after he had won the time trial on the final day. As he turns his attention towards the Rio Olympics, however, he will no longer contest overall classifications in stage races.

Bradley Wiggins finished safely on the final stage to secure third place overall at the Tour of Britain.

Stage 8b produced a fast and furious climax to the race on the streets of London and the same circuit on which Wiggins claimed time trial victory earlier in the day.

The stage culminated in an exciting shootout between Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish, with Kittel just edging ahead on the line.

Dylan van Baarle (Garmin-Sharp) was able to clinch the biggest win of his young career after crossing the line. The Dutchman maintained his 10-second advantage over Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) and 22 seconds over Wiggins.

“It’s easy to think ‘I’d love to have another crack next year’, but then I have to start thinking bigger picture, rather than just short term, this winter,” Wiggins said, according to the Guardian. 

“If I am serious about Rio, which I am, it’s easy to get roped in when you come to things like this [riding the Tour of Britain for general classification]. There has to be a point where I make that switch and with the winter months ahead now I have time to go and change body shape. It’s coming up to nearly 18 months now until the Olympics so that’s going to have to start soon if we’re going to do it.

“I’ll be back at Paris-Roubaix next year. Definitely. The kind of stuff I’m going to be doing for the track ties in with the demands of that event. It kills two birds with one stone that, definitely."

Wiggins now turns his attentions to the Worlds TT.

I feel that in the form I’m in I’ll be in the ballpark,” he said, according to the Telegraph. “We’ll see on the day. I thought I’d be closer to him [Tony Martin] last year and he put 42 seconds into me.

“You can’t really predict what others are going to do. In the back of your mind, you’re thinking: ‘Yes’. But I think you do build yourself up into these things. There’s a chance I could win it.”