Wiggins will end a disappointing 2010 season at the Tour of Britain

Olympic gold medallists Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas will be leading the home challenge in the Tour of Britain, which begins in Rochdale on Saturday.

The duo will be competing for Team Sky, who are returning to action after quitting the Tour of Spain following the death of masseur Txema Gonzalez.

Ed Clancy, another member of Britain's Olympic team pursuit squad, is also competing in the week-long race.

Norwegian sprinter Edvald Boasson Hagen secured the overall victory in 2009.

Hagen won four consecutive stages on his way to overall victory, but will not defend his title after Team Sky picked sprinters Matt Hayman and Greg Henderson.

No British rider has won the Tour since it was reformed in 2004, with the race tending to favour sprinters, although Steve Cummings managed second place two years ago.

The race will mark the end of the season for Wiggins after he announced he would not be competing in this month's World Championships or October's Commonwealth Games.

Welshman Thomas is also skipping the Worlds but will compete in Delhi.

Saturday's 132km first stage runs from Rochdale to Blackpool, with further stages in the Midlands, Wales, the south west and East Anglia.

The 100km final stage was moved from central London to the Docklands area because of a clash with the Pope's visit to the UK capital.

Australian Mark Renshaw, who was disqualified from this year's Tour de France for butting an opponent, will feature in the race for US-based team HTC-Columbia.

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