Three-time, back-to-back, reigning Tour de France green jersey winner Peter Sagan will ride his final Grand Tour for Cannondale ahead of his move to Tinkoff-Saxo.

And the Slovakian champion’s ability on the smaller climbs and rolling stages means he stands above the sprinters in the field when it comes to his points classification hopes.

To win the points jersey as a sprinter is tough – John Degenkolb won five stages in 2012 and was still only fourth – due to differences in the points system to the Tour de France.

But Sagan is far more than just a sprinter and his ability as a rouleur will provide him plenty more opportunities for stage wins than the likes of Degenkolb.

The lack of points available at the intermediate sprint, and the fact mountain stages carry the same weight as the flat stages, will count against him.

But if no climber stands out in the mountains – there are several who could share the points when the roads start heading skyward and four less summit finishes than 12 months ago too – it could play into Sagan’s hands.

If he targets the points jersey, he is certainly capable of scoring highly and becoming the first sprinter since Mark Cavendish in 2010 to top the classification.