“Despite this setback and my lack of race time I’ve worked incredibly hard, both to ensure I could firstly recover from the illness and then aiming to build my fitness up as much as possible in order to start the Tour.

“If I am being totally honest, had this not been the Tour de France we may have collectively taken a different approach with regards to my inclusion but I feel that I owe it to myself, the team, our sponsors and most importantly to the Tour itself given its history and everything that it stands for – as well as the emotional attachment I have for it – to give it my best and to put everything I have in to trying to help the team.”

Team principal Douglas Ryder turned his thoughts to Thwaites and fellow debutant Venter, meanwhile, adding: “Jaco and Scott will have their eyes wide open as they experience the enormousness of the Tour de France, and what a privilege to do that with the incredible experience of the rest of the team.”

On the team’s targets for the week, the team said in their press release: “With a race strategy that served us well in both 2015 and 2016, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka will once again target specific stages with individual riders during the 2017 edition of the race.

“Riding from the front, searching for breakaway’s and looking to wear a leaders jersey will also bring further awareness to our #BicyclesChangeLives campaign.

“We are confident these nine riders will make an impact that matters on the African continent over the next three weeks.”