Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky

Defending champion Chris Froome goes into the Tour de France on the back of his third Criterium du Dauphine win – after his last two victories, in 2013 and 2015, he went on to win the Tour.

• 2016 best results
  Herald Sun Tour – stage win, winner overall
  Volta a Catalunya – eighth overall
  Tour de Romandie – stage win
  Criterium du Dauphine – stage win, winner overall

The Kenyan-born Brit’s 2016 season had actually been relatively quiet beforehand, having won the Herald Sun Tour in February before finishing eighth at the Volta a Catalunya.

An ill-timed mechanical at the Tour de Romandie cost him there, too, but he finished strongly with a stage win at Villars-s/Ollon before carrying that form into the Dauphine.

Froome says this year’s Tour will be the toughest to win, but he has come into form at the right time once again.

Tour de France best results: winner (2013, 2015)
Tour de France 2015: winner
Team Sky team for 2016 Tour de France: Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard (GBR), Mikel Landa, Mikel Nieve (ESP), Wout Poels (NED), Sergio Henao (COL), Vasil Kiryienka (BLR)

Tejay van Garderen (USA)/Richie Porte (AUS) – BMC Racing

BMC Racing go into the Tour de France with a two-pronged attack, with Tejay van Garderen and Richie Porte both in contention overall.

• 2016 best results (Van Garderen)
  Ruta del Sol – stage win, second overall
  Volta a Catalunya – fifth overall
  Tour de Romandie – tenth overall
  Tour de Suisse – stage win, sixth overall

The American was set for a podium place 12 months ago, but illness forced him to quit the race with just five stages remaining.

As for Australian former Team Sky man Porte, his winter switch to BMC Racing was done to allow him more opportunity to race for himself at the Tour – and this is his big opportunity.

Porte showed his form at the Criterium du Dauphine, finishing fourth overall – he only missed out on the final podium on the final weekend, while Van Garderen was a stage winner at the Tour de Suisse.

• 2016 best results (Porte)
  Tour Down Under – stage win, second overall
  Paris-Nice – third overall
  Volta a Catalunya – fourth overall
  Criterium du Dauphine – fourth overall

They have done very little racing together in 2016, so it will be interesting to see how the dynamic works in practice – and question marks still remain over Porte’s ability to compete across the entirety of a Grand Tour – but both are likely to be at the sharp end in the mountains.

Tour de France best results: Van Garderen – fifth (2012, 2014); Porte – 19^th (2013)
Tour de France 2015: Van Garderen – DNF; Porte – 48^th
BMC Racing team for 2016 Tour de France: Richie Porte, Rohan Dennis (AUS), Tejay van Garderen, Brent Bookwalter (USA), Greg van Avermaet (BEL), Damiano Caruso (ITA), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Amael Moinard (FRA), Michael Schar (SUI)

Fabio Aru (ITA) – Astana

Fabio Aru broke his Grand Tour duck at the 2015 Vuelta a Espana, winning courtesy of a great performance in the mountains on the final weekend.

• 2016 best results
  Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana – sixth overall
  Volta ao Algarve – ninth overall
  Criterium du Dauphine – stage win

The Italian was also second at the Giro d’Italia last year – one better than his third place in 2014 – and has earned his first shot at the Tour de France as a result.

With Vincenzo Nibali having won the Giro this year, Astana currently hold two of the three Grand Tour titles, and stand to become the first team since Eddy Merckx’s Molteni team in 1973 to hold all three simultaneously (the difference being Merckx won all three for Molteni).

Aru’s form, however, has been patchy – a stage win at the Criterium du Dauphine, which he ultimately finished in 45^th place, his only victory of the season.

Nevertheless, both Aru and Nibali have proved in the past, as long as you arrive on the startline in top shape, the form book can count for nothing.

Tour de France best results: debut
Tour de France 2015: N/A
Astana for 2016 Tour de France: Fabio Aru, Vincenzo Nibalia, Diego Rosa, Paolo Tiralongo (ITA), Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), Tanel Kangert (EST), Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ), Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP), Andrei Grivko (UKR).

Romain Bardet (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale

Runner-up at the Criterium du Dauphine, by just 12 seconds from Froome, Romain Bardet could even have won that race had he not attacked Thibaut Pinot when the two rode away from the peloton on the penultimate stage.

• 2016 best results
  Tour of Oman – second overall
  Paris-Nice – ninth overall
  Volta a Catalunya – sixth overall
  Giro del Trentino – sixth overall
  Criterium du Dauphine – second overall

That move angered Pinot, who stopped working with Bardet and promptly won the stage in front of him – though it may have been a blessing given how the media would have hyped Bardet up for the Tour if he won.

The Ag2r-La Mondiale man is still just 25, but has enjoyed a string of top-ten finishes in 2016, also including the Tour of Oman, Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and Giro del Trentino.

A top-ten finisher at the Tour in each of the last two years, the challenge for the young Frenchman now is to prove he can be a serious contender rather than a nearly-ran.

Tour de France best results: sixth (2014)
Tour de France 2015: ninth
Ag2r-La Mondiale for 2016 Tour de France: Romain Bardet, Mickael Cherel, Cyril Gautier, Alexis Gougeard, Alexis Vuillermoz, Samuel Dumoulin (FRA), Jan Bakelants (BEL), Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA), Ben Gastauer (LUX)

Thibaut Pinot (FRA) – FDJ

Third in 2014, last year’s Tour de France couldn’t have started much worse for Thibaut Pinot, who found himself only just inside the top 30 after a disastrous opening week.

• 2016 best results
  Etoile de Besseges – third overall
  Volta ao Algarve – fourth overall
  Tirreno-Adriatico – fifth overall
  Criterium International – two stage wins, winner overall
  Tour de Romandie – one stage win, second overall
  Criterium du Dauphine – one stage win

But it ended in style – a breakaway regular by the end, the Frenchman won stage 20 atop Alpe d’Huez to prove what could have been.

That form continued this year too, with victory at the Criterium International and top-five finishes at the Tour de Romandie, Tour of the Basque Country, Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta ao Algarve and Etoile de Besseges.

He was never really in contention at the Criterium du Dauphine, but did win stage six in Meribel to take his season’s win tally up to five – the French time trial championship then making it six.

His podium finish in 2014 was as much down to the race-ending crashes of Chris Froome and Alberto Contador, but it proved Pinot can be a contender – the key now is to put last year’s disappointments firmly behind him.

Tour de France best results: third (2014)
Tour de France 2015: 16^th
FDJ for 2016 Tour de France: Thibaut Pinot, Cedric Pineau, William Bonnet, Matthieu Ladagnous, Anthony Roux, Jeremy Roy, Arthur Vichot (FRA), Steve Morabito, Sebastien Reichenbach (SUI)