“The Tour de France will always be the pinnacle of our sport,” he said. “I feel in good shape coming into the race this year and am fortunate to have a strong team around me – both on and off the bike.

“Every rider obviously starts every new Tour equal and what has gone before counts for nothing. This year I am hungrier than ever for success.

“We know how hard this race will be and how much we will have to give if we want to win it again.

“But we have trained hard. We’re ready for the challenge and can’t wait to get back racing in front of the millions of people in France who make the race so special.”

Alongside the four Brits, Poels is the only other rider who was also part of last year’s Tour success and team principal Sir Dave Brailsford believes adapting the line-up for each race can be the key to success.

“Every Tour is different, so that means choosing the team we believe is best equipped to deal with the many different challenges of this race,” he said.

“We have selected a talented group of riders with Chris as the leader once again. I know they will do everything they can to help him try to win yellow.

“We can take a lot of confidence as a team from what we have achieved already this year, but we know how much it takes to win the Tour.

“Of course there are a number of riders in other teams capable of putting in a challenge for overall victory. That’s great news for cycling fans, who can look forward to seeing some really competitive racing.

“We are as excited as the fans about what’s to come and we’re looking forward to getting started next Saturday.”

Team Sky for the 2016 Tour de France

Chris Froome (GBR)
Geraint Thomas (GBR)
Luke Rowe (GBR)
Ian Stannard (GBR)
Sergio Henao (COL)
Mikel Landa (ESP)
Mikel Nieve (ESP)
Wout Poels (NED)
Vasil Kiryienka (BLR)