Last year Simon Gerrans had a highly successful Tour de France as he both won a stage and wore the yellow jersey for a few days. This year he will be back for more and again he is taking aim at a victory and a stint in the most coveted tunic.

Last year Simon Gerrans went into the Tour de France with his eyes firmly fixed on the hilly stage 3. As so often before when he sets his mind on a clear goal, the Australian delivered on his promises when he beat Peter Sagan in a sprint to claim his second Tour de France stage win.

One day later he was part of the Orica-GreenEDGE team that won the team time trial and with a few riders equal on time, it was a countback that allowed Gerrans to enjoy a stint in the yellow jersey. Two days later he decided to deliberately finish a few positions further back in the peloton to allow his teammate Daryl Impey to take the jersey.

This year he is back in the Tour de France with similar goals. Like last year the race kicks off with a flat stage and potentially, the first 7 stages could all end in some kind of sprint finishes. In that case, the holder of the yellow jersey will constantly be determined by a countback as the number of riders equal on time will be gradually whittled down along the way.

For a rider like Gerrans who both climbs well and is fast in a sprint, this means that the yellow jersety could again be within reach. If the Australian champion manages to finish with the best each day and have a low total of placings he could find himself back in the most coveted jersey.

Arriving at the start on the back of a very successful spring season that saw him win the Tour Down Under and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, he goes into the race with both a stage win and the yellow jersey on his mind.

I would love to go back and win a stage again this year," he told Cyclingtips. "I see some real nice opportunities in the first half of the race. I don’t think you have to be a cycling genius to work out which stages in the first part of the Tour de France, particularly in the first week, really suit me.

"With the format in the Tour de France these days, without opening with a prologue and without any time bonuses, it is a matter of just getting some good, consistent placings. Normally you need to win a stage in the first part of the race to sneak that yellow jersey.

So if everything goes to plan and I am up there in the stages that I hope to be, then we should be well and truly within striking distance of yellow.

"With the very first stage being a sprinters’ stage, I think obviously we can expect to see one of the really quick guys in yellow after stage one.

"Then stage two is, from all reports, going to be a very tough, selective stage with a much-reduced bunch coming to the finish. So you can never look past guys like Sagan being up there in a stage like that. I am sort of already reading reports of guys saying that they would love to go on the attack on stage two as it is going to really be a stage to control.

"So I think we are going to see a really aggressive stage and there should be some really exciting racing on that stage two."

Later in the year Gerrans has set his sights on the World Championships which is held on a hilly course in Ponferrada that seems tailor-made for him.

"I always try to put a big emphasis on the world championships at the end of the season. I love racing the world titles, I love representing Australia and I always go there and give my all. From all reports, it is going to be a nice circuit this year down in Spain. So I will be doing my best to be in great shape for the world titles at the end of the year.

"Having said that, it is a heck of a long time since I first pinned my number on and I was in good shape in January. To be doing that at the end of September is a heck of a long season, but I will be giving it 100% at the world titles again this year, that’s for sure."