Winner of this race in 2013, before going to win the Tour de France, Chris Froome (Team Sky) leads a Brit-heavy Team Sky squad at the Criterium du Dauphiné.

British champion Peter Kennaugh, Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard join Froome, alongside Irish climbing domestiques Philip Deignan and Nicolas Roche, and their support will be invaluable to a man with form to prove ahead of the Tour.

Froome has had a quiet relatively quiet 2015 to date, winning his first test of the season, the Ruta del Sol, but racing just three times since then in a campaign disrupted by injury. His return, at the Tour de Romandie, saw him finish third overall, and the Kenyan-born Brit will now look to use the Dauphiné to test his mettle ahead of a return to the Tour, having crashed out of his title defence last year.

If the Kenyan-born Brit is to record another Dauphiné victory, he will need to excel on the stage to Pra-Loup and also the penultimate stage, finishing atop Montée du Bettex on a day packed with climbing.

Chris Froome – form guide

Best 2015 results: Ruta del Sol (stage win, overall winner), Tour de Romandie (third)

Best Criterium du Dauphine result: Winner (2013), three stage wins (2013, 2014)