Best of the rest
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Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali will wear dossard number one, while 2013 winner Chris Froome is one of ten Brits selected (pic: Sirotti)
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Vincenzo Nibali will return to the Tour de France as defending champion but he'll face stiff competition from Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana (Pic: Sirotti)
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Chris Froome celebrates victory on the Paris podium in 2013 (pic: Sirotti)
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Alberto Contador sealed victory at the Giro d'Italia to make it back-to-back Grand Tour wins (pic: Sirotti)
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Quintana's second place finish in 2013 earned the Colombian the white jersey for best young rider (Credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWPix.com)
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Joaquim Rodriguez has been written off by some but remains a top Grand Tour contender, proving himself on the Mur de Huy (Pic: Sirotti)
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Tejay van Garderen wore the yellow jersey at the Dauphine, but eventually cracked in the face of Chris Froome's relentless pressure (pic: X.Bourgois/ASO)
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Thibaut Pinot was the best young rider at last year's Tour de France (Pic: Sirotti)
Best of the rest
French fans will be hoping Tejay van Garderen is not the only rider who manages to challenge the ‘big four’ particularly after the performance of the home riders last year.
Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale) was second overall, while Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) bagged third and the white jersey.
Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale), meanwhile, finished sixth and along with Pinot has been in good form this year too.
Both will be contenders for the white jersey, but face a huge task on their hands to beat Nairo Quintana – however, it is not beyond either of them to push him close.
Bardet was a stage winner at the Criterium Du Dauphine, on the stage to Pra-Loup that will be repeated at the Tour, where he showed some fearless descending.
Pinot, meanwhile, rides on the back of a stage win at the Tour de Suisse, where he held the yellow jersey up until the final individual time trial.
With no big time trial on the Tour de France route, though, that will not be a problem for the young Frenchman.
Away from the home favourites, Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) continues to show strength in the week-long races – a stage winner and third overall at the Dauphine – but is yet to prove himself in a Grand Tour.
Costa’s former Movistar team-mate Alejandro Valverde will be ready to step in for the Spanish team, meanwhile, should anything happen to Quintana.
He did so in similar circumstances at the Vuelta a Espana and went on to claim third overall.