Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has announced his race schedule for the first half of the 2013 season. Just like this year, Wiggins will open his season in mid-February at the Volta ao Algarve. From there the Briton will tackle Tirreno-Adriatico, the Vuelta Catalunya, the Giro del Trentino and Tour of Romandie – before making a run at the Giro d'Italia. After the Giro, Wiggins will have 34 days to recuperate before the start of the Tour de France. 

Whether Wiggins returns to the Tour de France to defend his title, or support fellow Sky rider Chris Froome is still unknown. At October's launch of next summer's 100th Tour, Wiggins stated the Giro d'Italia would be his priority, leaving the way clear for Froome to lead Sky's Tour assault. However, earlier this month Wiggins told BBC Radio Five: "I don't know what the situation is in terms of leadership, as it stands I'm probably going to try and win a second Tour de France.

   

"I don't know, maybe we'll have two leaders, which is more than likely I guess. How that's going to work with the team I don't know, that's more (Team Sky general manager) Dave Brailsford's problem to worry about." He added: "It's just how we service both mouths. Like I said that's more a problem for Dave to figure out, but my goal is to win the Tour next year. "Whether that is realized or not I don't know really, we're still in this planning phase at the moment, deciding each race, what we're going to do next year, how we are going to go about training to do that.m"Whether I do the Tour of Italy before it, as I've said that is still undecided. All will be revealed in the coming months I guess."

If Froome is chosen to lead Team Sky, Wiggins insists he will support his team-mate.

"Oh yeah, I wouldn't be on the start line if not," he said. "Whatever the team strategy is we all support that, otherwise you don't take the start line because there'll be somebody else that is willing to fulfill that job. It's a case of you do what's asked of you on the day, whatever that decision is.