Most are talking about Tony Martin, Fabian Cancellara and Tom Dumoulin but Rohan Dennis is looming as a very strong outsider for the opening Tour de France time trial. The Australian has proved that he is close to the mark of the very best and is perfectly prepared for the challenge. In fact he checked the course already in May after the Tour of Belgium.

"This whole season I've prepared for this time trial, and every time trial I've gone into this year, whether I'm tired or fresh, I've gone at 100 percent, just to learn more about my body," he told reporters in Utrecht according to Cyclingnews. "Things have come along really well. At the Dauphiné in the team time trial I felt super strong and since then all I've been doing is preparing for stage 1 and the team time trial on stage 9."

"I think it was a 5am wake-up, which was a bit rough the day after the Tour of Belgium, but it meant that I got to see it with next to no traffic, and since then, I've had a video of it and I've looked over it," he added about his recon in May. "I checked it out again yesterday just to refresh the memory, because the video and real life can look a little different.

"It's not super long and it's not short and technical, so we won't have any surprises, like a non-time trial specialist who takes risks around corners and wins the stage. It's pretty quick and free-flowing. There are a couple of corners but I think the strongest and most powerful guy on the day is going to win."

Dennis will be an early starter in tomorrow's stage.

"I opted to go early to get it over and done with it as quickly as possible, and then I can relax. I don't want to be sitting on the bus for three hours twiddling my thumbs and getting more nervous about it."

Later in the race Dennis will become a support rider for Tejay van Garderen.

"When my job is done each day in the first week, I'll try to hold back and conserve my energy for the team time trial. But if my services are needed and someone else can't do their job, I'll put my hand up and step up," he said.

"Once the time trials are over, my main goal will be to switch to a climber's role, and hopefully I can be there for Tejay when it's crunch time and not just help him to the bottom of the climbs and then get dropped."