Battered and bruised after a tough opening week of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins still believes he can clinch his second Grand Tour title this month.

The Briton lies fourth overall, 1:16 adrift of leader Vincenzo Nibali who took the pink jersey after Saturday’s individual time trial.

Team Sky rider Wiggins was expected to claw back the time on his rivals in the individual effort against the clock but finished second to compatriot Alex Dowsett with a display he labelled as “disappointing”.

Wiggins, who crashed on Friday and looked vulnerable in the descents in rainy weather, said he had not expected the Giro to be a walk in the park.

“I never expected it to be as straightforward as the Tour last year,” Wiggins was quoted as saying yesterday, the race’s first rest day.

“Let’s be honest, I descended like bit of a girl really after the crash,” he said.

“Not to disrespect girls, I have one at home. But that’s life and we have to push on and deal with the disappointments.”

Most worrying for Wiggins is that Nibali is highly unlikely to just sit back on his lead and wait until the Giro d’Italia reaches the finish line in Brescia on May 26.

“He will continue to ride aggressively. I can’t see him trying to defend 30 seconds from now until Brescia,” Wiggins said.

Team Sky, who have been used to defending their lead in stage races, do not have room for conservative tactics anymore and today’s mountainous 10th stage to the Altopiano del Montasio could be a turning point.

“It will be one of the toughest finishes of this Giro, that’s for sure,” Wiggins explained.

“The race could tip upside down again.”