Podium but not yellow jersey is realistic for Wiggins

IT just would not be British if the hopes of the nation did not rest on the shoulders of one man. 

STAR TURN: Bradley Wiggins is a contender for a podium spot in this year's Tour de France but the yellow jersey may prove a step too far (Getty Images)

Wayne Rooney has failed for the Three Lions, Andy Murray continues his bid to end the 74-year drought for a men's singles champions at Wimbledon and, on Saturday, the baton will be passed to Bradley Wiggins.

The Team Sky rider will arrive for the Le Grand Depart in Rotterdam as a contender for the maillot jaune.

And the logic is simple. After all, three-time Olympic track champion Wiggins finished fourth in last year's Tour de France to equal Robert Millar's 1984 effort. An upgrade is expected.

But cycling is rarely that simple - and the Tour de France is never that simple. Expectations should be adjusted.

Dave Brailsford's outfit have thrown all their eggs in one basket by leaving New Zealand sprinter Greg Henderson out of their nine-strong roster, instead opting for an additional experienced domestique in Canadian Michael Barry.

The focus is Wiggins and the team is impressive for a first-time effort - but the 30-year-old is no longer the joker in the pack, as was the case 12 months ago when heads turned as Wiggins remained in the lead group in the mountains.

And heads also turned when the route for the 2010 edition was revealed in October.

It is one of the hilliest in years with six high-mountain and three middle-mountain stages - the legendary 2,115m Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees will be climbed twice in stages 16 and 17 - and the 2010 Tour features just one individual time-trial, a Wiggins speciality, and no team time-trial.

And it is in the mountains where Wiggins may falter. He is undoubtedly now a good climber and proved last year he has the basic climbing ability to get himself into contention.

But Steve Cummings, Simon Gerrans, Thomas Lofkvist and Serge Pauwels will not be able to provide Wiggins with the support the likes of Astana, Liquigas, Saxo Bank and RadioShack can give their general classification contenders - 2007 and 2009 champion Alberto Contador, 2010 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso, last year's runner-up Andy Schleck and seven-time victor Lance Armstrong respectively.

Wiggins will have to find a turn of pace in the mountains if he is to attack his rivals. But it is a risky strategy - Contador and Schleck, along with brother Frank, will be nigh-on impossible to beat in the Pyrenees and there is no shame in being the best of the rest.

Contador is the huge favourite to snatch the yellow jersey for the third time but the Spaniard is not infallible.

The first week of the Tour is routinely predictable - a succession of flat stages where breaks are reeled in and the sprinters take aim on the finish - step forward Mark Cavendish, who this year will ride a more tactical race, snatching intermediate sprints as well as stage wins, in order to compete for the green jersey.

However, 2010 sees a three-day homage to spring classics follow the opening prologue. The brutal cross-winds of stage one could blow the peloton to shreds, as was the case at La Grande Motte last year, while the hilly Brussels to Spa second stage rules out a bunch sprint.