Wiggins in peak condition

Tour de France contender Bradley Wiggins has described his condition as 'as good as it gets' ahead of his bid to become the first Briton on the Paris podium next month.

The 30-year-old Londoner finished fourth - equalling the British record set by Robert Millar in 1984 - 12 months ago, transforming himself from track thoroughbred to mountain goat and climbing alongside the likes of Alberto Contador, the two-time champion and favourite for this year's race.

The three-time Olympic track champion was something of an unknown quantity in the sport's toughest race last year, but now is among the contenders for the maillot jaune, the yellow jersey, when the race concludes in Paris on July 25.

Ahead of the Tour's opening prologue on July 3 in Rotterdam, Wiggins believes he could not be in better shape.

'It's been a near-perfect plan,' he said.

'Everything's in place now and it's about as good as it gets in terms of physical fitness and power-to-weight ratios.'

'Tied in with that the backing of the team and the eight riders I have around me for this race, it's quite exciting to think what the end product's going to be.'

Prior to the 2009 Tour, Wiggins targeted a top-20 finish, something which many commentators dismissed as unlikely.

However, he excelled in the mountains and finished behind Contador, runner-up Andy Schleck and seven-time winner Lance Armstrong, who was third, one spot off the podium.

Much was made of Wiggins' weight loss in 2009, something he managed without compromising on power to enable him to attack the Alpine ascents and Pyrenean peaks.

He is the same weight 12 months on - 73 kilograms - as he bids to improve on his sensational display.

Wiggins raced May's Giro d'Italia two kilograms overweight, but having lost the remaining mass, now is ready to challenge on the climbs once more.

'Two kilos on an hour's climb makes a huge difference,' he said.

'But that was always the goal, to do the Giro a little bit heavier.'

'I've worked hard the last two, three weeks now to drop a bit of weight and now we're into that last stage now and I'm at the Tour weight I was at last year, having remained as powerful.'

'In terms of where I'm at fat-wise, there's nothing left to go without breaking the screw.'

'Another turn and it will go and that going is losing muscle and power.'

'I'm bang on 73 kilos, which is what I was last year and that's it now.'

'It doesn't get much better than this in terms of being in the ball park to do well in an event like the Tour de France, finishing as high up the GC (general classification) as possible.'

'Whether that's winning or finishing second or third or whatever - who knows? - but we'll go out there and put the process together each day.'

As with Britain's all-conquering track team - a squad in which Wiggins has been an integral member for almost a decade - the process, not the result is the focus.

'At this stage I don't know what my best is,' he added.

'This is all still relatively new to me and it's quite exciting.'

'The whole plan has been built up towards this race.'

Wiggins was on Friday confirmed as the leader in Team Sky's nine-man squad for the Tour, which includes fellow Britons Geraint Thomas and Steve Cummings.

Wiggins could become the fifth Briton - after Tom Simpson, Sean Yates, Chris Boardman and David Millar - to don the maillot jaune if he wins the 8.9-kilometres prologue in Rotterdam in one week.

But he is focused on the larger prize.

'It's stage one of many and in terms of the big picture, the prologue is so small in that,' he said.

'There's two races, there's the race for the prologue specialists who want to take yellow for a few days.'

'And then there's the race of the GC guys.'

'The main priority is to win that race of the GC guys and put as much time as I can into some of those guys.'

'I'll still go through the process of putting the ride together as I did at the Giro and I managed to win it there.'

'You don't just lose that time-trialling ability overnight on those short things.'

'I'll certainly be in the ball park, but as soon as I cross the line, I'll be thinking about the next day.'

While the Tour is Wiggins' immediate focus, he plans to return to the track for one final time at London 2012 as he seeks to win the team pursuit title for a second successive occasion and a fourth Olympic gold.

His Team Sky contract - signed last December after he negotiated an early release from his deal with Team Garmin-Transitions - ends in 2013 and with the conclusion of that, Wiggins plans to step away from his bike.

He said: 'That will be my last track competition and after I'm done with this, 2013, I'll be gone.'