Three weeks after he lit up the Beijing Olympics, Bradley Wiggins, the Londoner and double gold medal-winner, will be the star attraction in this year's Tour of Britain, which begins on Victoria Embankment in Central London tomorrow.

But Wiggins, who won gold in the individual and team pursuit events in China, will not race alongside his Team GB and Columbia team-mate, Mark Cavendish, who partnered him in the Madison event in Beijing. Cavendish, winner of four stages in this year's Tour de France and three stages in the recent Tour of Ireland, will compete instead in the Tour of Missouri, further fuelling rumours of a rift between the pair, in the aftermath of their disappointing partnership in Beijing.

A bitterly disappointed Cavendish, who quit the Tour de France early to prepare specifically for racing in Beijing, stormed out of the Olympic velodrome after Wiggins's flying form deserted him when the duo raced in the Madison. The pair, as defending world champions, were favourites, but could finish only ninth.

Wiggins sought to play down talk of a rift with Cavendish this week. “We haven't spoken but it'll be all right,” he said. “We're like brothers really. We've fallen out. He's said a few things in the heat of the moment and I can understand his disappointment.”

Since the Olympics, Wiggins has announced that he will leave Columbia, his American-sponsored team, next season and race instead with David Millar, his compatriot, at the Garmin-Chipotle team, partly to pursue his own ambitions rather than those of Cavendish. “They are building a team around Cav,” he said of Columbia's plans.

Other Team GB Olympians in the field include Chris Newton, the bronze medal-winner in the men's points race in Beijing, Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift, Steve Cummings and Roger Hammond, the veteran sprinter. The 96-man Tour of Britain peloton includes well-known riders such as Millar, Stuart O'Grady, of Australia, Kim Kirchen, of Luxembourg, and Magnus Bäckstedt, of Sweden.

While Wiggins can expect a rapturous reception on British roads, the presence of Tyler Hamilton, the discredited former Olympic time-trial champion, who was convicted of blood doping in 2004, casts a shadow over the post-Beijing euphoria. Hamilton, was even deemed persona non grata in his native Tour of California this year, yet has been welcomed to the British race.

Wiggins, a longstanding and bitter critic of drugs in sport, will be keen to ensure that the American does not rain on his parade.

Stage one: TfL London Stage, Sunday from 1.30pm, 86km circuit starts at Victoria Embankment