Astley & Tyldesley have officially withdrawn from the Premier League. This is due to the increasing levels of non-availability of riders that has plagued the club throughout the season. Despite having 39 riders registered with British Cycling, only four riders made themselves available for the scheduled Premier League match at Wednesfield today. Consequently, the club had no option but to notify the Wednesfield club yesterday that they would be unable to fulfil the fixture. As well as the considerable embarrassment of defaulting a match, the club is fully aware that it will incur the statutory penalty of a £100 fine. The decision to withdraw from the Premier League was taken to avoid putting member clubs to any further inconvenience from possible late withdrawals, as well as preventing the A & T club from incurring any further penalties and damage to its reputation.