(REUTERS) – Sir Bradley Wiggins has been ruled out of the Tour de France due to a knee injury. Wiggins, who last year became the first Briton to win the Tour, withdrew from the Giro d’Italia due to a chest infection and then an inflammation in his left knee prevented him from training.

With the three-time Olympic champion not able to ride at this month’s key warm-up races, the Criterium du Dauphine or Tour de Suisse, Team Sky have decided that he will be unable to take on the three-week tour which starts on June 29 in Corsica.
Team principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: “With illness, injury and treatment Brad has gone past the point where he can be ready for the Tour. It’s a big loss but, given these circumstances, we won’t consider him for selection.
“He hasn’t been able to train hard since the Giro and now he needs further rest. Whilst we all know these things happen in sport, it doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a huge disappointment for everyone in the team – and above all for Brad.
“It’s incredibly sad to have the reigning champion at Team Sky but not lining up at the Tour. But he’s a champion, a formidable athlete and will come back winning as he has before.”
The 33-year-old, who looked likely to play a support role for Chris Froome, expressed his disappointment.
He said: “It’s a huge disappointment not to make the Tour.  I desperately wanted be there, for the team and for all the fans along the way – but it’s not going to happen.
“I can’t train the way I need to train and I’m not going to be ready. Once you accept that, it’s almost a relief not having to worry about the injury and the race against time.
“I’ve been through this before, when I broke my collarbone, so I know how it works. I’ll get this sorted, set new goals for this season and focus on those.”
This year is in sharp contrast with 2012 for Wiggins, who won the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine stage races en route to claiming the Tour and Olympic time-trial titles.
Having changed his schedule to target the Giro first, Wiggins failed to record a single individual victory, pulling out of the race after stage 12 because of a chest infection.
Whether the 33-year-old will ride the Vuelta a Espana starting on August 24 is now the question on everyone’s lips.
In 2011, the Briton, a four-time Olympic champion, had set his sights on the Tour but pulled out when he broke his collarbone.
He recovered to take third place overall in the Vuelta and second in the road world championships’ individual time-trial.