Wiggins and Cavendish compete in the men's Madison Olympics final

Mark Cavendish will go head-to-head with Olympic gold medallists Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas at the National Road Race Championships.

Four-times Tour de France stage winner Cavendish was the last big-name cyclist to sign up for the 110-mile race around Abergavenny on Sunday.

David Millar, himself a Tour de France stage winner, will also compete as will double national champ Roger Hammond.

Cavendish will be part of the new 12-man Newport-based Great Britain team.

The event takes place just a week prior to the start of this year's Tour de France.

To have so many riders who could win the men's race all going for the biggest title in the country gives us, I believe, the best road race field the National Championships has ever had Abergavenny festival of cycling organiser Bill Owen

Cavendish, a double Madison World Champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, became only the second British rider to win two stages of the Tour de France in the same year in 2008.

The 24-year-old who led this year's Giro d'Italia before Italian Alessandro Petacchi took the overall lead and he withdrew.

And Cavendish, who is preparing for next month's Tour de France, joined Chris Boardman as the most successful British rider of all time with 41 career stage wins after winning twice in the Tour of Switzerland.

Welshman Thomas helped Britain's team pursuit stars smash their own world record to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Wiggins, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, was Thomas' team pursuit team-mate in China and the 29-year-old also won the 4000m individual pursuit crown in Beijing.

Hammond, double national champion in 2003 and 2004, went on to ride alongside American legend Lance Armstrong for the Discovery Channel team.

Festival organiser Bill Owen said: "To have so many riders who could win the men's race all going for the biggest title in the country gives us, I believe, the best road race field the National Championships has ever had."

Defending champion Rob Hayles has warned he will not give up his crown without a fight despite the star-studded field.

"Everyone will know if Cav is there at the finish, he is the one to beat," said Hayles, the 2004 Olympics silver medalist.

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