Thomas Löfkvist is relishing the prospect of leading Team Sky during their first appearance at the Vuelta a España, but has no qualms about helping out his team-mates along the way.

he Swede proved he had the capability to mount a determined Grand Tour campaign at the Tour de France earlier this summer when he was Team Sky's highest-placed rider on the general classification in 17th position despite riding the first two weeks primarily in support of Bradley Wiggins.

This time around though, the nine-man squad are being given a freer rein to challenge on all fronts, and Löfkvist feels a more rounded approach could yield some encouraging results.

He said: "It's nice that the management have given me this opportunity to go for the GC and I'm really pleased to be leading the team.

"Having that responsibility is definitely something I enjoy, but at the same time, if there's an opportunity for another team-mate to do well in the race, I will do everything I can for them as well.

"Our aim for the Vuelta is to try and be competitive on as many fronts as possible. We'll make sure Swifty has a good lead-out train in the sprints, and there are also guys like Simon Gerrans and Juan Antonio Flecha in the squad that can challenge if they make it into a breakaway."

That approach is in contrast to the Tour, where the squad was chosen primarily to give Wiggins the best chance of success. Certain commentators there pondered whether Löfkvist could have finished even higher in the standings if he hadn't been aiding Wiggins the in the mountains, but that is not a notion that the 26-year-old necessarily agrees with.

He added: "It's impossible to say where I would have finished if the circumstances had been different. What I do know though, is that I didn't suffer huge time losses on those few occasions where I had to wait for Bradley. I think we were on the same level for most of the race, so I don't think it would have made much of a difference in the end.

"My only goal going into that race was to survive the full three weeks, which I did, so I was happy with that and I have taken a lot of confidence from it going into this race."

Fine form

After some much-need rest and recuperation, Löfkvist returned to action at the Tour du Limousin and posted his best GC result of the season by finishing in a highly-creditable sixth position.

Although that four-stage event could never compare to the challenges awaiting him in Spain, Löfkvist was encouraged by the form he showed there and is hoping carry that into the Vuelta:

"I went to Limousin for training, and to also have a go at the time trial. The race was a tough one because it was up and down the whole way through, but the climbs were not super long so I never really felt fatigued. My TT result there was also my best of the year so, that was nice to see and proved my condition is good.

"There's a bit of a theory in the peloton that if you recover sufficiently after a Grand Tour you get a second wind in terms of form when you return, and it looks like I've got that so I just hope I can use it now.

"I haven't set myself any specific goals for the Vuelta but I'm going to approach it in the same way I did the Tour. My number one priority is the GC, and I'll be going all out to do well in that, but if the opportunity arises for a stage win I'll obviously go for that as well.

"Again, if I can make it to the end in Madrid I'll be happy because it means I'll have another Grand Tour in my legs and that should make me even stronger in the future."