Brad Wiggins will approach next year's Tour de France riding high. He explained that he will skip racing the Giro d'Italia and train at altitude with his Sky team.
"We've changed the race programme beforehand so I arrive at the Tour a bit fresher," Wiggins told The Daily Telegraph. "We're going to experiment with altitude training next year, which should make the difference. Just looking forward to it now."
Wiggins raced the three-week Italian Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia this year. Though he won the first time trial stage and held the pink leader's jersey, he said the race was too demanding. He will skip it next year to prepare for what he is calling a "bloody hard" edition of the Tour de France. The extra time will allow Wiggins to attempt to acclimate his body with altitude training.
"We didn't have time to do any altitude acclimatisation and it turned out to be most significant factor this year. The higher the Tour goes the more significant it becomes and it is something we are definitely going to look at. With doing the Giro we just didn't have time."
With the extra time, Wiggins will have more time to preview the key mountain stages. There are four mountain top finishes next year: Luz-Ardiden and Plateau de Beille in the Pyrenees and the back-to-back Galibier - Alpe d'Huez stages in the Alps. There is not an opening time trial next year, but there is a team time trial on the second day in Les Essarts that will allow Sky a chance to win and Wiggins the chance to wear the yellow jersey.
"Whoever wins the time trial should take the yellow jersey," he said, "so it's a fantastic opportunity for me with the team we've got."
This year's first day in Rotterdam, Wiggins gambled with weather forecasts and went off early. Instead of avoiding the rain, he was hit with a rainstorm.
"That was my mistake by trying to get one over on everyone by trying to predict the weather rather than just going out and racing under the same conditions as all the other favourites. I take responsibility. I'm a human being, I've got a voice and I take 100 per cent responsibility.
"It was just a huge learning process last year and as long as you learn for the future you'll never make those mistakes again."
Wiggins finished 24th overall after three weeks of racing. The race was a disappointment and failed to live up to the expectations that came with his fourth place finish the year before. He is not giving up, though.
"It's all about being as good as you can, whether that means winning it or coming fourth ... it's all about self-satisfaction and knowing you did everything possible you could.
"Other factors can affect the race so much; like crashes or a puncture at the wrong time or splits in the peloton when you lose 20 seconds. It's just so hard. It's more than just physical sometimes. Sometime you just need a bit of luck.
"Like the stage last year when I lost 40 seconds in the split and missed the podium by 20 seconds [stage three to La Grande-Motte - ed.]. These things happen and it's so, so hard. I was in the wrong place so that wasn't a physical issue. Just positioning and concentration. Obviously you can't concentrate 100 per cent for three weeks, it's just impossible."