Despite the rip-roaring success of the Yorkshire Grand Départ of last year’s Tour de France, only four British riders were at the start, and only one made it to Paris.
12 months on and the picture looks decidedly different. No fewer than 10 Brits will take to start as the 102nd edition of the Tour de France kicks off in Utrecht on Saturday. That’s a record-equalling figure – the most since 1955.
Five of them – Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Ian Stannard, Peter Kennaugh, and debutant Luke Rowe – are from Team Sky, whose sole ambition is to put a second yellow jersey on the back of Froome. Stannard and Rowe will shepherd Froome through a Classics-flavoured opening week, while Thomas and Kennaugh will provide support across all terrain, including the mountains later in the race.
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Elsewhere, Simon Yates gets another start with OricaGreenEdge and will be joined by his brother Adam, who is making his Tour debut. The two are still only 22 and the Australian team has stressed that the ambition will be to gain experience and go for a breakaway stage win rather than launch a concerted GC bid.
Alex Dowsett (Movistar) is another rider making his Tour de France debut after illness prevented him from taking to the start line last year. He’ll be riding in support of Nairo Quintana and will be of particular help in the team time trial on stage 9.
Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) is no stranger to the Tour and has racked up 25 career stage wins in the race. After being denied the opportunity to add to that tally last year, he’ll be as eager as ever across the relatively few sprint stages on this year's route.
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