Bradley Wiggins has made winning a second Tour de France title his primary goal in 2013, despite previously suggesting he would focus on the Giro d’Italia.
Wiggins became the first Briton to win cycling’s biggest prize in July but said it was more likely he would ride the 2013 edition in support of Chris Froome after a more mountainous route was revealed in October.
And Team Sky chief Dave Brailsford last month said Froome, who finished second behind Wiggins in this year’s race, would likely lead the team – but now Wiggins has suggested that, while plans are yet to be finalised, the squad could go into the race with two leaders.
“I don’t know what the situation is in terms of leadership, as it stands I’m probably going to try and win a second Tour de France,” Wiggins told BBC Radio FiveLive.
“I don’t know, maybe we’ll have two leaders, which is more than likely I guess. How that’s going to work with the team I don’t know, that’s more Dave Brailsford’s problem to worry about.
“It’s just how we service both mouths. Like I said that’s more a problem for Dave to figure out, but my goal is to win the Tour next year.
“Whether that is realised or not I don’t know really, we’re still in this planning phase at the moment, deciding each race, what we’re going to do next year, how we are going to go about training to do that.
“Whether I do the Tour of Italy before it, as I’ve said that is still undecided. All will be revealed in the coming months I guess.”
While it is uncommon for a team to go into the Tour de France with two general classification leaders, it is not unheard of, with Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong leading Astana in 2009, and Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault leading La Vie Claire in 1986.
Wiggins undoubtedly went in to this year’s Tour de France as Team Sky’s sole leader, having already won Paris-Nice, the Tour of Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine in 2012, but Froome’s ‘attack’ on stage 12 upset the apple cart with Wiggins suggesting in his book, My Time, that the move created uncertainty within the team.
But the 32-year-old Wiggins insists he will ride in support of Froome if the Kenya-born Brit is chosen as Team Sky’s leader in 2013.
“Oh yeah, I wouldn’t be on the start line if not,” Wiggins added. “Whatever the team strategy is we all support that, otherwise you don’t take the start line because there’ll be somebody else that is willing to fulfil that job.
“It’s a case of you do what’s asked of you on the day, whatever that decision is.”
