Bradley Wiggins targets Giro ahead of Tour de France defence

Bradley Wiggins has spelled out his objectives for the season, with the British cycling star focusing on a debut win in the Tour of Italy rather than a defence of his Tour de France title.

Wiggins gave a preview of how he sees his year panning out for Team Sky after filling a lowly 74th in the Tour of Oman on Saturday behind teammate and winner Chris Froome.

Explaining his decision to target the Giro, Wiggins, who is expected to play a supporting role to help 2012 Tour runner-up Froome win the cycling blue riband this year, said: "I just wanted a new set of challenges.

"It took a long time for the motivation to come back.

"After the Olympics there was a long period when I thought, 'What the hell am I gonna do next [this] year', because I put so much in 18 months for that Tour project.

"I knew I wanted to go back and compete at a high level again, I didn't want to retire.

"I had to find something that would inspire me to go and train, and for me the Giro was something else I really would love to try and win. So, for me, it was just about having a different set of challenges."