Nacer Bouhanni’s 2013 Tour de France ended prematurely as illness and injury forced him to abandon as early as stage six. And the experience – which also included him causing a big bunch sprint crash on stage five – has left him desperate to make amends this time out.

Except it’s not quite as simple as that for the 23-year-old former French champion with team-mate Arnaud Demare, who patiently sat out of last year’s Tour to accommodate Bouhanni, expecting to be their sprint leader this time out.

Demare is in equally good form, having won the Four Days of Dunkirk and Tour de Picardie in his home country – bagging the points classification at both and two stage wins apiece in the process. But can FDJ.fr afford to leave out Bouhanni for the Tour? The likelihood is one of the two will be French champion come July, which complicates matters further ahead of their home Grand Tour. And though Bouhanni is competing against a second-tier sprinting field at the Giro, having missed out when Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) was still involved, he is fast proving he deserves recognition as a serious sprint contender.

Sir Dave Brailsford, at Team Sky, faced a similar leadership dilemma last year with Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome both vying for the position of top dog. This year it’s the French with the problem, and there are sure to be a few headaches between now and the Tour.