TEN FOR 2010: Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

IT proved to be one of the most drawn out transfer sagas of the year but Bradley Wiggins finally got his move to Team Sky and the chance to join forces with British Cycling guru Dave Brailsford.

AMBITIOUS TARGET: Bradley Wiggins in the slipstream of Alberto Contador during this year's Tour de France. How long before he overtakes? (Getty Images)

In a dragged out 'will he or won't he' tale, Wiggo - after equalling the best Tour de France finish by a Brit this summer with his fourth place - finally left Garmin-Slipstream behind just a few days short of Christmas.

His acquisition will prove pivotal to Brailsford's ambitious bid to produce a British Tour winner within five years.

Team Sky will make their eagerly anticipated debut in January's Tour Down Under and having Wiggins at the helm looks set to prove another masterstroke from Brailsford.

And it all adds to the intensifying cauldron that is this year's Tour de France.

In finishing fourth, with what was in truth, sub-standard support from his Garmin domestiques, Wiggins proved to many he is a world-class road cyclist.

His quality on the track was never in question but by clinging to the coattails of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong, who was well aided by his superior Astana team, Wiggins earned his place among the road's elite.

Armstrong has jumped the Astana ship to form his new team, RadioShack, and taken pretty much everything of note with him including Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloden and team manager Johan Bruyneel.

Bruyneels versus Brailsford will form an intriguing Tour sub-plot in the years to come but at the moment the former, the mastermind behind Armstrong's seven Tour victories, is the undisputed champion.

But things are hotting up in the peleton. Alberto Contador is undoubtedly the world's superior cyclist but he has remained at Astana and has a severely weakened team around him.

There is doubt as to who will lead RadioShack. Armstrong insists he is too old but one more tilt at the maillot jaune may well prove too tempting.

Team Sky, however, as we have come to expect from Brailsford, have been meticulous in their preparations.

As well as Wiggins there are a host of excellent British riders ready to prove their worth on the road.  These include Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh and Chris Froome while Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen is making ripples in sprinting circles.

As yet he does not have the kick to compete with another Brit, Mark Cavendish.

The Manxman has not been swayed from Columbia-HTC and also looks set to go from strength to strength in 2010.

But with the addition of Wiggins to the squad, Brailsford took a huge step towards his long-term target.

The 2010 Tour, and exactly how Wiggins fares among the Pyrenees peaks, should provide insight into just how ambitious that goal it is.