Can anybody stop Slovak sensation Peter Sagan from storming to another green jersey? The Cannondale man was unstoppable last year as he defended the jersey he had first won the previous year.

Sagan is the rouleur’s rouleur – capable of mixing it with the best in the bunch sprints but also more than happy over undulating courses – as proved by his E3-Harelbeke victory in the spring.

Though not boasting the sprint of the likes of Cavendish and Kittel, Sagan makes up for the few points dropped on the flat stages by racking them up on the more demanding, lumpy routes. With a team built entirely around his green jersey bid, all set to pull hard on the front of the bunch whenever Sagan has a sniff of a stage win – as they did in Albi last year – he will certainly take some stopping.

However, while not exactly closing in, the gap between Sagan and his rivals is shutting down slightly. Greipel foiled the Slovakian’s attacking in Oman, as Kittel had done in Dubai. Cavendish and Omega Pharma-Quickstep meanwhile could not be shaken off at Tirreno-Adriatico. Favourite, Sagan most certainly is but unstoppable? Do not bet on it!