Tour de France 2013: Alberto Contador remains my 'biggest threat', says Team Sky's Chris Froome Indeed, if Froome does take custody of the maillot jaune, the leader's yellow jersey, then the quietly-spoken rider will have to learn to cope with the added pressures that come with wearing the famous jersey. I think last year I was in a very privileged position. I was at the front of the race without having to deal with too much. I was doing a fair amount of media last year, being second in the Tour, but it's definitely very different when you've got the yellow jersey on your back. There's only one way to really find out what that's like and that's to be in that position. It's been great to be in the leader's position in the other races this season, I've really enjoyed it. However I don't think it compares on any level to what it's like at the Tour. Riding the Critérium du Dauphiné, says Froome, acts as the perfect entrée for the summer's main course. That's one of the great things about the Dauphiné this year, it does incorporate some of the crucial moments of the Tour route. It will be great for us to get a feel for Alpe d'Huez, ok we will only have to do it once, but we'll definitely get a feeling for what it's like at race pace, and that small tricky decent afterwards which could also be quite decisive. I think the flat time-trial in the middle of a stage race will be a good indication of where everyone's at form wise. Getting a good result and being there or thereabouts with the contenders does leave you coming away with a very good feeling, and you think ok I'm in the right place and I'm in the running. Having said that it's a bit strange all these races building up to the Tour because with the results you know that everyone isn't quite at their 100 per cent level yet like they would be at the Tour. If Wednesday's 32.5-kilometre time-trial was an indication of form, then Contador's disapponting race against the clock, coupled with his failure to break the Briton on Thursday, will have further boosted Froome's confidence. "Contador is the one that stands out to me as the biggest threat," added Froome. He certainly likes attacking that's for sure, he's not going to give you the race on a platter. I don't know if that will work to his detriment, or if he attacks enough that will put us under pressure, but that's where all the fun comes in I guess. It's been interesting reading opposition up until now, but I'm sure they could say the same about us, maybe that we've got quite a predictable style of racing. I wouldn't say it's a good or bad thing, but everyone has to come up with their own tactics. You know that every pro team is going to be sending their strongest nine guys to do the absolute maximum possible. Every team will arrive with a different agenda not all to ride the general classification, some will target different competitions or different stages. As a bike rider in the peloton at the Tour, for me it just feels at least 3 or 4km faster than any other race we do. Whether that comes down to the calibre of the riders there, or the pressure from the media and the fact that the whole cycling world is watching that one event. It's just a special event, and it makes it that bit harder. After taking the lead in the Critérium du Dauphiné following his stage win on Thursday Froome now looks certain to win the eight-day race when it concludes in Risoul on Sunday and is now, surely, the overriding favourite to win the Tour in Paris next month. Froome, though, says he "prefers not to think" about it. At the end of the day I know I can only do my best. I can only make sure I give my 100 per cent and that I am in 100 per cent condition getting there. The fact that people are talking about me as one of the favourites, I think I have to just put that to one side and just get on with it. If I spend too long stewing over what people are saying and their expectations I probably wouldn't make the start in Corsica. "It's a bit of a strange feeling, but if I think back to it I must have thought the same as a teenager looking up to the top Tour de France riders thinking I want to be like that one day," reminisces Froome. The very first Tour de France that I can remember following on TV was when Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso were battling it out in the mountains. I just remember seeing that and thinking this is an amazing sport. Personally I was supporting Basso, being the underdog. So it's strange now looking around in the peloton seeing guys like Basso next to me, it's a bit surreal. British Eurosport is the Home of Cycling, broadcasting LIVE coverage of the Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de France.