• Tour de France

Wiggins targets first stage victory

Bradley Wiggins has failed to live up to his own expectations in this year's Tour de France © Getty Images

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Bradley Wiggins has set himself the target of earning a stage victory after seeing his original goals for the Tour de France fail to materialise.

Prior to the 2010 event, Wiggins had targeted a top three finish after excelling in last year's Tour - where he finished an impressive fourth - but, following a difficult campaign, the Team Sky leader has had to face up to the realisation that those aims are no longer possible.

While Thursday's 174-kilometre stage 17 from Pau to the summit of the Col du Tourmalet is key to the race for the leader's yellow jersey, Saturday's 52km time-trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac stands out as a big opportunity for Wiggins to improve on his current position of 21st and earn his first stage victory.

"I don't know whether to persist and finish in 23rd or 24th overall or really put everything into that last time-trial now," he said. "Looking at how everyone is, everyone's on their knees - (Fabian) Cancellara and all those guys. I've maybe got a chance of picking up a stage win, but I don't know."

After a dire ride in the prologue, in which he finished in 77th place, the 30-year-old got his Tour back on track before struggling in both the Alps and the Pyrenees. But in the knowledge that his pursuit of a podium finish is over for another year, the Londoner is already plotting next year's assault.

"I won't do the Giro [Giro d'Italia] again," he said. "It's just too demanding now. I'm already thinking for next year that the classics-Tour approach might be the way to do it, maybe experimenting with some altitude training as well, because I've never done it."

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