With yesterday's bad news from Bradley Wiggins, there is no longer any doubt that Chris Froome will be the Sky leader for the Tour de France. Tomorrow, he gets the first chance to show that he is ready to take over that captain role when he lines up at the Crierium du Dauphiné - won twice in a row by Wiggins - and the Kenyan-born Briton feels well-prepared for his 5th big stage race of the year.

Last year Chris Froome played a crucial support role when Bradley Wiggins took his second consecutive win in the Criterium du Dauphiné. Having had a terrible spring after his breakthrough performance in the 2011 Vuelta, the Kenyan-born Briton found back to his best in the Alpine race and finished fourth behind teammates Wiggins, Michael Rogers and BMC's Cadel Evans despite spending plenty of time on the front of the peloton.

He went on to play a similar role in the Tour de France but this year his situation is completely different. From the start of the season he has been the designated Tour captain and despite some public confusion surrounding Wiggins' Giro-Tour ambitions, the team has always backed Froome for the world's biggest race.

With Wiggins now out of the Tour, there is no longer any question about the Tour leadership role and Froome can prepare for the event without having to worry about any internal rivalry. He starts off his campaign tomorrow when he aims to succeed Wiggins as the winner of the Dauphiné and after a training camp in Tenerife he feels well-prepared.

“I’m feeling really good,” he said. “I came off a good block of training up in Tenerife with the guys and I’ve had about a week at home now. It’s been nice to sleep in my own bed for a little while. Having said that, I’m starting to feel ready, I feel like the form is definitely on its way up and everything is heading in the right direction for the Dauphine.”

Tenerife has been Sky's preferred venue for their training camps as the island offers good weather and the possibility to do some good climbing and altitude. Froome is certain that his efforts will pay off in the coming weeks.

“It’s hard work up there,” he said “It’s definitely a bit of a boot camp with the altitude and the hard training. But you can definitely feel when you come down from there that you’ve moved your condition on a bit. I guess at the end of the day it’s all those kind of things that we do building up to the Tour that get us into the condition we need to be in. It’s definitely a worthwhile exercise doing it.”

The Dauphiné is one of two big preparation races for the Tour - the Tour de Suisse is the other - and the race has often included parts of the Tour course in its mountainous route to attract the sport's biggest names. This year the double climb of the Alpe d'Huez and Col de Sarenne - set to be climbed in stage 18 of the Tour - will be on the menu in stage 7 and so it is no surprise to see the likes of Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Joaquin Rodriguez, Jurgen Van Den Broeck and Pierre Rolland head to France.

Froome is aware that the level of competition is high and sees it as some kind of dress rehearsal for the world's biggest bike race.

“It could be seen as a mini Tour de France as all the contenders and most of the big names will be there. Everyone should also be in pretty good shape this close out from the Tour," he said. "And to go with that we’ve also got a really tough route with some really challenging mountain-top finishes, as well as a time trial. It’s eight days of racing but it’s definitely going to be a good test for the Tour that’s for sure.”

Having suffered from bilharzia  for a couple of years, Froome found back to his best in the 2011 Vuelta. The tropical disease stroke back in the early part of the 2012 season but from the Dauphiné, things started to improve. Hence, Froome has fond memories of the event.

“I think last year around the Dauphine was when things started going right for me," he said. "I’d had a bit of a turbulent start to the season and by about the Dauphine things started coming around. I ended up with fourth there which was definitely a sign of good things to come looking towards the Tour."

Last year Sky riders finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in the event, and a similar scenario could occur this year. Richie Porte has had an outstanding season so far with a win in the Paris-Nice and 2nd place in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and is expected to be Froome's key support rider in the mountains in both the Dauphiné and the Tour.

However, Froome does not fear any internal rivalry, instead preferring to see the strength in numbers as an advantage.

“I definitely hope to be up in contention this year, but having said that we’ve got a really solid set of bike riders coming to the Dauphine," he said. "I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Richie could be up there again the GC. It’s actually quite a good position for us to be able to have those different cards to play.”

Until now Froome has had a fantastic season. In February, he won his first ever stage race at the Tour of Oman and he went on to take overall wins at both the Criterium International and the Tour de Romandie. In between he finished 2nd behind Vincenzo Nibali in the Tirreno-Adriatico and so he has had plenty of opportunities to deal with the pressure of being a race leader.

He expects those experiences to come in handy in France during the next two months.

“I’ve been in that position a few times this year in addition to defending the leader’s jersey," he said. "I think it’s gone really well and the feeling with my team-mates and the guys riding around me has been fantastic. We’ve got a really solid team – riders and staff – and everyone seems to be on track with their preparation. We’re where we need to be at the moment.”

There is no doubt that he has a good reason to feel well-supported. In addition to Porte, reliable climbers Vasil Kiryienka and David Lopez will set the steady, torturous pace that Froome likes while Geraint Thomas, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Peter Kennaugh also know how to handle the Alpine ascents. Classics specialist Ian Stannard will be a crucial rider to keep the leader protected in the flatter sections of the course.

The Dauphiné starts tomorrow with a road stage in Switzerland. You can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

Team Sky for the Criterium du Dauphine

Chris Froome, Vasil Kiryienka, Richie Porte, David Lopez, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh and Ian Stannard