If Peter Sagan tops the points classification, the Slovakian champion will go level with Kelly with four wins – only six-time winner Erik Zabel has more.

But with Tinkoff-Saxo’s team built around supporting Contador, even if Sagan is given licence to chase the jersey, Kelly thinks he could find the going tough.

“I don’t think Peter Sagan will be riding much for Contador. I don’t think that’s going to be his problem,” he stated. “The problem for Sagan is that he’s going to be alone a lot in the sprints.

“The team is really structured around Contador. He will have very few team-mates to help him in the sprints, if he has any, and that’s always a difficulty. It’s becoming more of a difficulty now too, to win without a sprint train.

“Without one, that first week is going to be difficult for him. So I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion [that Sagan will win the jersey].

“He’s going to need maximum points in the first few stages but if a rider like Cavendish or one of the other sprinters take a lot of wins and take a lot of points then they certainly could be in with the green jersey classification.”