Bradley Wiggins will continue to give it all he has during the next 11 stages, but admits a top 10 finish is now a more realistic goal for him at this year's Tour de France.

The 30-year-old had hoped to lead Team Sky to the podium in their first appearance at cycling's biggest event but that dream now appears unlikely after two difficult days in the Alps.

Wiggins lost one minute and 45 seconds on race leader Andy Schleck on Sunday, and was a further 4:53 down on the Saxo Bank rider at the end of Monday's gruelling ninth stage into Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.

That result also saw Wiggins fall two places to 16th in the overall standings and he is now 7:18 off the yellow jersey spot.

Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso is currently occupying 10th position, but the Liquigas leader sits just 2:08 ahead of Wiggins and the 30-year-old has set his sights on reducing that defecit.

"I don't want to give up and throw my toys out of the pram, finish at the back or go home," a resolute Wiggins said after stage nine.

Fresh perspective

"I'm going to just push on every day and maybe just recalibrate, say top 10 is now the goal.

"We put everything into it, it hasn't worked - it's not because we haven't tried.That's just the way it goes. That's life, unfortunately.

"You try your hardest, you do everything possible to be in good shape and it's obviously not with the best of them. It's only sport at the end of the day though."

"I'll just do my best every day now. I don't think the GC is finished totally in terms of getting a respectable position, and that may be top 10 for me.

"We'll just keep pushing on, see what happens, do our best and that's all we can do now.

"I don't want to give up, there's been so much support out there on the road, it's been fantastic."

Despite falling off the pace, Wiggins is still enjoying Le Grande Boucle and believes it has been a huge learning curve.

He added: "It's been an exciting Tour up to now. At least you know where you stand - you haven't got to wait two and a half weeks to know where you stand."