Early career Wegelius started his career in France, riding for the
Vendée U team managed by
Jean-René Bernaudeau, thanks to the influence of former pro
Graham Jones. His team-mates included
Walter Bénéteau,
Christian Guiberteau,
Roger Hammond,
Samuel Plouhinec, and
Janek Tombak. He won a number of races in his first season, including beating
Sandy Casar, who was the brightest prospect in the local area. His biggest result was winning the Under-23 section of the
Grand Prix des Nations, after which
Le Télégramme reported that Wegelius was one of the most promising riders of his generation. He recovered, however, and had his first professional break in 1999, when he rode as a
stagiaire for the ill-fated
Linda McCartney Racing Team. Wegelius participated in the
cycling at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where he finished 5th in the individual time trial and 28th in the road race. He also started the
road race at the 2004 Summer Olympics, but failed to finish.
Italian years Wegelius raced in Italy for a succession of teams between 2000 and 2009. At
Mapei he was part of a generation of young cyclists that included
Fabian Cancellara,
Luca Paolini,
Dario Cioni,
Rinaldo Nocentini,
Filippo Pozzato,
Leif Hoste,
Bernhard Eisel,
Allan Davis, and
Michael Rogers. Wegelius took part in his first
Grand Tour, Mapei's last, at the
2002 Vuelta a España. After the team's sponsor pulled out at the end of 2002, Wegelius moved to the smaller
De Nardi team, which raced on the Italian domestic scene. They were invited to the
Giro d'Italia in
2003 and
2004. In 2004, Wegelius notably helped
Serhiy Honchar to an unexpected second place, often driving the leading group up the difficult mountain stages.
World Championship controversy Wegelius was involved in controversy in 2005 when he and teammate
Tom Southam chose not to ride to protect
Roger Hammond, their team leader, in the
World Championship road race, and instead took instructions from the Italian team for a fee. Wegelius later repaid the costs associated with his participation in the event, and was never selected to represent his national team again. He later said that he regretted the incident.
Giro d'Italia Having been on the
Liquigas-Bianchi team since they reached the top level of cycling, Wegelius was a key domestique in the Giro d'Italia supporting Dario Cioni,
Danilo Di Luca, and
Stefano Garzelli. Wegelius competed in every Giro d'Italia between 2003 and 2010, and successfully supported Di Luca to victory in 2007, which was ironically the only Giro Wegelius failed to finish.
Participation in the Tour de France Having previously ridden in the
Giro d'Italia and the
Vuelta a España, Wegelius made his
Tour de France début in the
2007 edition. By finishing 45th, he was the best placed British rider in the general classification at 1 hour, 41 minutes and 5 seconds behind yellow jersey winner
Alberto Contador. He received a call-up to participate in the
2009 Tour de France as a replacement for
Thomas Dekker, who was ruled out following a positive
drug test. He finished 60th in the general classification, 1 hour, 14 minutes and 25 seconds behind the winning Contador. Wegelius also began the
2010 Tour de France. However, much to his disappointment, he had to pull out after suffering from a sickness. It was his last participation in the Tour de France, as he retired after the 2011
Giro di Padania. ==Personal life==