Bradley Wiggins is keeping cool, calm and collected in the run-up to the Tour de France and remains unfazed by the weight of expectation resting on his shoulders.

The 30-year-old will be Team Sky's main General Classification contender when they make their long-awaited debut in cycling's biggest event and hundreds of thousands of fans will be cheering him on as he battles it out with the world's best riders to win the coveted yellow jersey.

Wiggins' entire season has been geared towards winning this race and he has worked tirelessly to ensure he will be in peak condition when he powers out of the start gate in Rotterdam on 3 July. During that same period, huge debate has raged as to whether he will achieve that goal, but the man himself is refusing to let the pressure get to him.

He said: "I'm not really aware of the expectation really. I avoid all that. I don't read the cycling press, I don't read the sporting press in the UK, and I don't even go on the internet much any more.

"I do what I do for myself. I've prepared meticulously for this race and now I'm ready to go. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen - no-one's going to hang me or anything - so I don't really worry about all that stuff.

"What I will say though, is that we will all try our very best and if we do that without any hiccups, crashes or punctures at the wrong time, we're going to be in the ball park.

"We can't account for how anybody else is going to be physically so all we can do is concentrate on what we're doing. That might not be good enough, but we'll give it everything and the end result is what it is.

"Condition-wise I'm feeling good, as well as I ever have. It's just about sitting tight now and waiting patiently for the start."

Strong team

Although the team selection was largely taken out of Wiggins's hands, he is delighted with the eight riders who have been chosen to aid his bid for glory - especially the inclusion of fellow British riders Steve Cummings and Geraint Thomas:

"I pushed for Steve to be on the team a long time ago and I was really pleased that he made it through. He's always had so much to offer but perhaps hasn't got the best out of himself until recently.

"He got put in the Giro d'Italia team quite late on but proved himself to be a superb team rider there and has been included in the Tour team off the back of that.

"It's a similar story with Geraint. I've also been a little frustrated with him because I've seen how much talent he's got and he hasn't always got himself together in the past. He's been flying this year though, especially since the Classics, and he's going to be invaluable to me in those flat stages.

"As for the others; Michael Barry is hugely-committed team rider, Edvald can do pretty much anything that's asked of him, and Thomas Löfkvist is riding extremely well. Simon Gerrans, Juan Antonio Flecha and Serge Pauwels are all great climbers, so we've got all-round strength in depth really. It's a pretty good team in that sense.

"We have all raced with each other before and we know each other's strengths and weaknesses really well. Every day Dave Brailsford will ensure everyone has their own specific roles and the guys will have performed those roles before so they should be able to slot straight into them."

Prepared

Although Team Sky's Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia in May didn't always run to plan, Wiggins feels it still provided a great testing ground for the Tour and is predicting a far stronger showing this time around.

He added: "Our team at the Giro wasn't ideally suited to do a GC ride. We were there to try out different things and new team strategies. That said though, we were by far and away the strongest team at points in that race and I expect the same in this race, if not better.

"This is what the whole season has been geared towards, our final product. Everyone has prepared for this and everyone is now at their peak, so it's a whole different level to what the Giro was. This is where we come into our own."