Defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) remains the man to beat this year as Team Sky bid for a third consecutive Tour de France win. The Kenyan-born Brit gave a stunning reminder of the power and climbing prowess which propelled him to victory last season when he blasted to victory on stage two of the Criterium du Dauphine.

Backed by a strong team, who will be alongside him for the Tour too with the addition of road captain Bernie Eisel, Froome left his GC rivals trailing in his wake, with the exception of Alberto Contador, to take the stage and extend his overall lead.

The crash which put paid to his overall hopes, however, was reminiscent of the season he has had to date – stunning form at the Tour of Oman and Tour de Romandie have been intertwined with the injuries which ruled him out of Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Tirreno-Adriatico.

If he can recapture the form he showed at the start of the Dauphine, on the Col du Beal, however, and his team repay the faith showed in them – faith which has led to the omissions of British champion Peter Kennaugh and 2012 champion Sir Bradley Wiggins – then Froome could well be unstoppable again.