Italian sprinter Elia Viviani has endured a hit-and-miss season to date, picking up four victories but struggling to make a mark in the bigger races.

An encouraging start to the Giro d’Italia was slowed by illness while his role as lead-out man for Peter Sagan at the Tour de France ended without a victory.

However, Viviani is still a more-than capable sprinter, as proved by his two victories over Mark Cavendish at the Tour of Turkey and he will be another to watch if the race ends with a bunch sprint.

Viviani’s hopes of success will rest on how he fares having not raced since the Tour de France, with his form on the moderate climbs early in the Tour certainly not boding well if the Surrey hills split the race.

Should he stay in contention, however, the Italian stands a big chance of returning to winning ways on The Mall.