Picking just five contenders is extremely hard, with the race’s provisional start list containing a phenomenal depth of talent. Carlos Betancur (Ag2r-La Mondiale), for one, was on top form en route to overall victory at Paris-Nice and performed well in the Basque Country last year, as did team-mate Jean-Christophe Peraud. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) is another rider in superb form as overall victory at the Volta ao Algarve will attest, and one who will have no problems in the final time trial having already beaten world champion team-mate Tony Martin once this year.
Also enjoying a good year is Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) but with Cadel Evans, Samuel Sanchez and Philippe Gilbert also on the provisional start list for BMC Racing his personal ambition may have to take second place. Still, with such a potentially strong line-up on show, a BMC Racing victory could well be on the cards. Bauke Mollema (Belkin) and Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano) are just two more of the riders who could be hoping to put paid to that however.
