Team Wiggins - Le Col to close at end of 2019 season

Team Wiggins - Le Col have announced they will cease racing at the end of the 2019 season.

The British outfit released a statement saying that after five years the team's ownership "have taken the decision that the operation has come to its natural conclusion".

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The professional development team race at the UCI continental level and have been responsible for some of the biggest talents coming through the British ranks in the past few years.

Owain Doull graduated from the team and today starts his first ever Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España for Ineos, with James Knox also taking the start line for Deceuninck - Quick-Step having ridden the Giro d'Italia earlier this year, he signed from WIGGINS ahead of the 2018 season.

Scott Davies (Dimension Data) and Tour de Yorkshire winner Chris Lawless (Ineos) also raced for the team, with Gabriel Cullaigh the most recent of their riders to make the step up to WorldTour level, signing for Movistar for the 2020 season.

Wiggins - Le Col were originally set up to help Bradley Wiggins, one of the team's general managers alongside Andrew McQuaid and Robert Dodds, and his team-mates as they worked towards taking gold in the team pursuit at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Following Wiggins' retirement, the team changed focus to become a development team, brining through the next generation of pros.

In the same year that Le Col stepped up to become the team's co-title sponsor, the squad returned some of their best ever results. Tom Pidcock won both the U23 Paris-Roubaix race and took the overall classification at the Tour Alsace, picking up a summit victory at La Planche des Belles Filles on his way to victory.

Other standout results include Owain Doull's points classification victory and third place on GC at the Tour of Britain in 2015.

"The team look forward to finishing its season strongly at the upcoming Tour of Britain, where it will showcase its talent one last time," their statement continued. "Team Wiggins - Le Col would like to thank everyone who has been a part of the journey, including fans, sponsors, staff and of course the riders."