Josh Edmondson insists ambition to race at 2014 Tour de France is no pipe dream

The Grand Depart of next summer's Tour de France represents a home race for all British riders, but none more so than Josh Edmondson.

Edmondson also has past results on his side. Even though he has only been with Team Sky for one season and is yet to make an individual breakthrough, he was part of the squads that helped Chris Froome win the Tour de Romandie and Wiggins win the Tour of Britain. They were the two highlights of a year in which he has made a seamless transition from amateur to professional and, in his own words, developed markedly as a rider. "I think I have come a long way this year in every respect," he explains. "At first, it was a little bit overwhelming going from being all alone as an amateur in Italy to training with Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome in Mallorca in the space of a week. "But over the course of the season I have learnt a lot, at every single race, through spending time with the other guys and riding alongside them. "Helping Brad win the Tour of Britain was definitely one of the highlights. It was so nice to see him back winning again, especially in front of his home fans. "And then, of course, I was with Chris when he won the Tour de Romandie - seeing him prepare for the Tour de France and seeing how focused he was. That was special." Having watched Froome and Wiggins first hand and already made significant strides as a professional, the question now is how far Edmondson can go himself? At just shy of 6ft tall and with a slim frame, he is built for climbing and, with that, has potential to grow into a team leader and general classification contender. Edmondson is keen not to get ahead of himself, but a successful first season with Team Sky has opened his eyes to what may be possible. "This year has made me see that I can be more ambitious," he adds. "As an amateur you cannot start saying 'I would love to win this race and this race' because you don't know if you are ever going to ride them. "But this year I have done so many races that I would love to one day win, and that in turn has made me more ambitious. "Long-term, I would love to be a general classification rider - not just being part of a team, but leading it. That is my main goal and I think this year has proved, hopefully to the team and definitely to myself, that I can reach that level."