Some intriguing stages have been thrown up by the 2015 Tour de France route announcement, with the GC men – once again – needing to be at their peak from the off.

The race will be far from won in just the first week though, either, with the Pyrenees and then a brutal final week in the Alps likely to throw up some fiercely-contested battles.

With just one short individual time trial, and an interestingly-placed team time trial on stage nine, just before the first rest day, the mountains will be critical in deciding the final destination of the maillot jaune.

But where exactly will the prized yellow jersey be won – or lost – and who should we be on the lookout for, should they take to the Utrecht start line on Saturday July 4?

We have rounded up our pick of the stages over the following pages.