Team Sky manager Dave Brailsford expressed his satisfaction with the performance of Christopher Froome in his first event of the season, as the Kenyan-born Tour the France champion concluded his Tour of Oman campaign with an overall victory last Sunday.

"I think that Chris was a bit nervous at the start as he didn't know exactly where his form was, but he's a natural competitor and as soon as he sees an opportunity he tries to take it," said Brailsford.

Even though there are usually plenty of commitments regarding the yellow jersey holder, Brailsford confirmed that – as it was reported on several occasions – Froome managed to undergo proper preparations during the winter break while training aside from any pressure in South Africa.

Team Sky manager also spoke in the same line as Froome about expectations regarding the British rider this season, trying to trick the reality by claiming that this time the pressure is off.

"I think that he has dealt with his winter commitments well, which is normally quite a difficult thing to do after a first Tour de France victory, because there are always so many demands from all sides – from sponsors, invites to events…”

"But he's worked very seriously in South Africa and you can see here that he's passed the first test without any problem. There's less pressure on him than last year and as a result we've been able to work on tactical things."

Asked about how the success last July affected Froome, Brailsford claims he didn’t notice any particular changes in an attitude of the Kenyan-born rider.

"Everyone is different, we've seen the same things with Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton [on the track]… After a big victory it's always difficult to go back to your everyday life, but Chris is a serious person and for him the goal is not to win the Tour de France once, but to do it several times.”

"He is really focused on that and has got a lot of ambition. If you just focus on getting a result and you manage it to achieve it, things become difficult because there is nothing more to achieve. But if your goal is to win again and again, then the work continues after that first victory."

Brailsford was reluctant to speculate whether Sir Bradley Wiggins will be a part of the Team Sky’s roster for the coming Tour the France 101st edition, as the only key will be building the possibly strongest squad to support Froome in his title defense. It was hard not to notice, however, that Wiggins takes his new role very seriously as he has selflessly supported Richie Porte in the Vuelta a Andalucia last week.

"It was the same for the Olympics, when we had to select the British team and choose between Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny, for example. We've always done that without taking emotions into account. We will see how things are when we get towards June, and we will take the best team. It's as simple as that."