King of the Mountains winner at the Criterium du Dauphine, by quite a distance, Alessandro de Marchi is a more-than capable climber who relishes the long breaks.

So far, so good then – and as he proved at the Dauphine he is more than capable of racking up the King of the Mountains points if he is afforded the freedom by his team.

It is the latter which could well count against him however, with his role at last year’s Tour seeing him deployed at the front of the bunch, driving hard on the lumpy stages to support Peter Sagan’s green jersey bid.

In a team centred completely on the Slovak star again this time out, the freedom he benefitted from at the Dauphine is unlikely to be repeated.

The team, in announcing the squad, said de Marchi would play an important role on the hilly stages, but if that role is to the team and in support of Sagan he is unlikely to be able to challenge for the polka dot jersey.

On the other hand, if he is to be afforded some freedom on the stages less likely to suit Sagan, he is certainly capable of racking up the climbing points – and he is no stranger to the breakaway either.