Bradley Wiggins insists he is hitting his prime with perfect timing to lead the new British professional cycling team to glory at the Tour de France.

Wiggins, the three-times Olympic gold medallist who finished fourth on the Tour last summer, signed a lucrative four-year contract with Team Sky yesterday after a deal was done to release him from his contract with American outfit Team Garmin-Transitions.

The 29-year-old is thought to have tripled his salary but making history as the first Briton to ride up the Champs Elysees as champion is what drives him on.

Wiggins said: "I reckon I can be better. If I had sat here 12 months ago and said I wanted to finish in the top four in the Tour de France people would have laughed at me and they did.

"I feel stronger all the time. I'm coming into my prime and am able to handle the workload better.

"I was only 20 seconds off finishing third this year so that's an achievable goal and the route next year suits me better."

Wiggins joins up with Sky team principal Dave Brailsford, who is also performance director of British Cycling and the man responsible for the gold rush at the Beijing Olympics.

Brailsford said: "A lot of people think this is about money but it's not. It is a not a chequebook issue.

"You could see his value going up day after day on the Tour but he has not come here to get paid over the odds.

"Bradley needs big goals. If it's not the Olympic Games it has to be something as big.

"Once he's locked on to his goal he is phenomenal in dedication and going through the pain to get there."

Brailsford has assembled 25 riders, seven of whom are British, including Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard, Russell Downing, Peter Kennaugh, Chris Froome and Steve Cummings as well as Wiggins.

There are also 37 backroom staff and after luring a star name in Wiggins Team Sky now look certain of their place at the Tour.

One piece of bad news for Wiggins is that he will not be able to go for a third successive gold in the individual pursuit at the London Olympics in 2012 after the event was dropped from the schedule.

Wiggins said: "It's disappointing. It would have been nice to have been back there and going for number three in the individual.

"I can understand why they are doing it, but it's a bit drastic losing three endurance events and replacing it with something like the omnium which, in my opinion, is a poor event to watch.

"But it doesn't matter what we think. We're just the riders."