Bradley Wiggins insists he can handle the 2011 Tour de France after the gruelling route was revealed in Paris.

Next year’s race celebrates 100 years in the Alps, climbing the Col du Galibier twice; once with a mountaintop finish, before the peloton takes in the 2,645m pass on the way to Alpe d’Huez the following day.

In all the 2011 Tour will feature four summit finishes and 23 category two, one or hors climbs along the 3,471km route.

Wiggins equalled the best ever British finish in the Tour with fourth in 2009 but faltered this year, having made the move from Garmin-Transitions to Team Sky, limping to 24th place.

And, despite no prologue and just one 41km individual time trial, the 30-year-old believes he is still capable of mixing it with the best climbers in the business.  

“With the Tour you know you’re going to have summit finishes, you know there’s going to be a time trial, you know it’s going to be three weeks long,” Wiggins, three times an Olympic champion on the track, told Sky Sports News.

“With no prologue, there is a chance we could lose time on the first stage. However, there’s also a great chance for us to win the time trial stage on the second day. The first week will be a hugely important week for the team.

“Last year was a learning experience for everyone involved. We put the best team together at the time and had the best preparation. Unfortunately in professional sport it doesn’t always happen for one reason or another.

“But we go away from that and learn from our mistakes and rectify those problems, making it right for next year.

“We’re looking forward to next year. We want to get on the podium and win it if we can. We’ll set the bar high and aim to do it.”

Tour director Christian Prudhomme added: “We wanted to provide a huge array of challenges for all kind of riders.

“We wanted a more balanced route, with three stages in the Pyrenees and three in the Alps during the final week. That way we will maintain the suspense until the very end.”