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Chris Froome to lead Team Sky in Tour de France, says Dave Brailsford

Sir Bradley Wiggins (left) with team-mate Chris Froome during a rest day on the 2012 Tour de France. Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Dave Brailsford has backed Chris Froome to be Team Sky's sole leader in this year's Tour de France, seemingly ending Sir Bradley Wiggins's hopes of defending his title.
The debate over which rider would be given the nod to lead Britain's challenge has been a long-running spat, with Froome claiming that he would have priority while Wiggins has insisted that both men could be given equal billing in the first week of the Tour.
Wiggins believes he can manage an historic double by winning the Giro d'Italia before retaining his Tour crown.
But Brailsford said: "As always the team selection is a management decision and it will be evidence-based. However it is crucial there is clarity of purpose and for that reason we will go to the Tour with one leader.
"Taking that into consideration and given Chris's step up in performances this year, our plan, as it has been since January, is to have him lead the Tour de France team.
"With over seven weeks until the Tour and the Giro to focus on, our final selection of nine won't be confirmed until after the Dauphiné [Critérium du Dauphiné, in France in early June]."
On Friday, Froome spent the day on a recce of stage 15 of the Tour and the infamous Mont Ventoux. The 27-year-old has enjoyed an outstanding season, powering to overall victories at the Tour of Oman, the Critérium International and the Tour de Romandie, with four individual stage wins along the way, putting him in prime form ahead of the Tour, in which he finished second behind Wiggins last year.
"We're in a fantastic position – we have two of the best general classification riders in the world and they are both great racers with a competitive will to win," Brailsford said. "Since the start of season, Bradley's performance plan has focused around training specifically to try and win the Giro and then ride the Tour, whilst Chris's has been focused on attempting to win the Tour.
"Now we're here – the Giro has started and Bradley has done a brilliant job of getting in the best possible condition for his assault on the race."