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Palma.—Bradley Wiggins, who flew back to England last night for a weekend break with his family before returning to Majorca to compete with Team Sky in the Tour of Majorca which starts in Palma next weekend, said at the Sky training camp in Alcudia on Thursday evening that Majorca is his second home. “This year was my tenth consecutive January here and this was also the tenth time I've spent the Spanish Christmas, the Three Kings on the island as well. “I've got an apartment down the road (in the Port of Pollensa) and I come out with the family every half term and summer holiday apart from the annual winter training camps we have here. “So, I guess I nearly spend half of the year here. “I came here to celebrate winning the Tour de France, that's when I got photographed enjoying a pint and having a fag,” he joked. “But, from a professional point of view, it's a great place to have a training base. “It's easy for all of the team whether they live in the UK or elsewhere in Europe to get down here. But, we've been using the island for so many years now, the team directors and the cyclists know all the roads which this time of year are pretty quiet. “What is more, the varying terrain, from the flat to the mountains really enables us to get some serious training in and that is what this camp is all about,” Wiggins said.

And, it was at the training camp in Alcudia before Christmas, on December 15 to be precise, that Bradley and his team captains agreed that this year he would go for the Giro d'Italia while team mate Chris Froome would lead Team Sky in the Tour de France.

Bradley admitted that it is very unusual for a Tour de France champion not to return the following year to defend his title but explained that the team has pretty much made its decision and now everyone knows what their targets and challenges are for the coming season which for Bradley starts here in Majorca a week on Sunday. “Initially for me I strived for what seemed like a very long time, but in fact it was only four years since I joined the team, to win the Tour de France. So it was always about winning, not about winning one and then a second and a third, it was about winning the first and we've done that. “So after the Olympics I had a lot of thinking to do and there are a lot of other things in this sport that I would love to do and the Tour of Italy is always something I've always wanted to go back to but, because we were committed to winning the Tour de France and with the Giro always coming before it, it was always crossed off, but now that's all changed and having won the Tour I am able to try and win the Tour of Italy which I'd love to do after having put in such a poor performance back in 2010 and have that on my wall as well. “So that is why I got back into training pretty much straight after the Olympics in order to be ready for Italy in May,” Bradley said. “In fact, within just a few days after the Olympics I told my wife I'd love to win the Tour of Italy and that is what I am going to try and do this year.” Continued over.