Olympic cycling shake-up hits Wiggins and Romero

Olympic cycling gold-medallists Bradley Wiggins and Rebecca Romero will not be able to defend their titles in front of a home crowd at the 2012 London Games after changes to the track programme.

But fellow Briton Victoria Pendleton could now go for three golds after the number of women's events was increased to five, the same number as the men.

Wiggins, though, may not be too downhearted by the decision. He has turned his attention to road racing and has signed up with Team Sky for the next season, and has his sights set on a top three finish in the Tour de France. Last year he came fourth, the joint best result in the Tour for a British rider.

He did express his sadness on Twitter. "Such a shame me and G never got to have that epic final in London!" he Tweeted, referring to to Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas who set the second fastest pursuit time ever in October.

However the pair will get to race with, and against, each other in the summer - Thomas is also a member of Team Sky and the pair will go up against each other in the time trials.

The new Team Sky outfit is overseen by Dave Brailsford, the man who masterminded the rise of the British track cycling team, and aims to deliver a British Tour de France winner within the next five years.

Wiggins (pictured above) is the biggest name to sign up so far and the team is expected to be a force to be reckoned with. But there are some concerns that the new venture could undermine the work of the British track cycling team.

Even without the likes of Wiggins and Romero competing in London, the British team wants to better its massive haul of 14 medals in Beijing and the sport will £26.4m in public funding between now and 2013. ·