• Tour de France

Yellow jersey greater than Olympic gold - Wiggins

Bradley Wiggins finished fourth at last year's Tour de France © Getty Images

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Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins admits victory at the Tour de France would mean more to him than winning an Olympic medal.

Wiggins owns six Olympic medals, including three golds, but joining the likes of Lance Armstrong as the proud owner of a yellow jersey from the Tour de France would represent a greater achievement.

"It would surpass the Olympics by quite a lot," Wiggins said. "I think it would be a bigger achievement, especially in cycling. However doing both would also be special."

Wiggins leads Sky's nine-man team for the Tour starting in Rotterdam on July 3, and he believes he is a genuine contender to win the overall event, but is not feeling the pressure despite finishing fourth last year.

"I still feel I've got nothing to lose," he said. "If I get on the podium, people will say I just got on the podium, if I fail miserably, I'll fail miserably," he said. "I'm relaxed at the moment and going out there convinced to do the best I can.

"It's not a life and death situation, it's just sport, I actually enjoy it. Mentally the Tour de France is easy compared to an Olympic final when you're 50 seconds away from the start. Of course physically it's much harder because it's much longer. But if you can conquer it mentally, it will stand you in good stead physically."

Wiggins is one of three Britons riding for Team Sky this year, and one of seven competing in the race, with HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish expected to challenge for the green jersey in the points classification.

"It's amazing to see where the sport of cycling in Britain is at the moment," Wiggins said. "There will be seven Brits riding this year's Tour. Cav's probably confident about winning the green points jersey too. That's fantastic for the sport."

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