Bradley Wiggins: Dave Brailsford relishes Tour de France problem

Bradley Wiggins's desire to defend his Tour de France title next year has given British cycling head coach Dave Brailsford a problem he will "relish".

Brailsford, who also runs Team Sky, initially planned to make Chris Froome, who finished second behind Wiggins in 2012, team leader for next year's race.

He told BBC Sport: "I was thrilled that [Wiggins has] got his appetite back. He's hungry and he wants it again.

"It's a problem I relish and we'll assess it as we get closer."

In July, Wiggins, supported by Froome and seven other Team Sky riders, became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France.

When the 2013 Tour route was unveiled in October, Wiggins said it was "more than likely" he would play a supporting role to Froome.

The 100th edition of the race features several tough ascents in the Alps and Pyrenees which are likely to suit climbers such as Froome while the time trials at which Wiggins excels have been reduced to 65km from 100km in 2012.

Brailsford, who was named coach of the year at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Sunday, added: "You want people who are motivated towards big goals and big targets, and then its my job to try and use the coaching staff to make all the right tactical decisions to ensure that we can win the race.

"We've certainly got some plans now, and as we move through the season, we'll use evidence and results as we move along.

"Chris is focusing on the Tour and if Bradley does ride the Giro [Tour of Italy in May], we'll have to see how he comes out of that, and assess the situation as you get close to the actual event.

"At the end of the day, the legs will do the talking."

Froome, when asked who will be Team Sky's leader at the 2013 Tour de France, told BBC Sport: "It would be hard for [Bradley Wiggins] not to go in and defend having won it last year.

"He's going to the Tour with the aim of being the best possible but it's up to the team to decide how we manage that and the team has got a lot of confidence in me going for the yellow jersey.

"It's always better going in with two-prong attack rather instead of hedging all our bets on just one rider because something can go easily wrong as we have seen before."

Wiggins, who also won the Olympic time trial on the road at London 2012, capped a remarkable 12 months by being named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year at London's ExCeL on Sunday.