Sprints are unique on the Tour de France and evolve as the race goes ahead. As a result, bunch sprints are not the same in the first and the third week.

"The natural qualities of the sprinter remain the same, but their teams are getting tired and, as we saw in Nimes, sprinters teams struggle more and more to get organised," explains Cofidis team manager Yvon Sanquer.

"Obviously, it's much more difficult to control the race in the third week. Bodies are tired, especially after the Pyrenees," admits Christian Guiberteau, team director of Giant-Shimano.

His team has two cards to play in a bunch sprint with Marcel Kittel, who dominated the first week and John Degenkolb, who is back in form after a bad crash.

"It's true that Marcel might be a little tired after the mountains while John is a rider who is consistent over three weeks," adds Guiberteau.

As a result, Degenkolb might be seen as a favorite on the road to Bergerac unlike Kittel, who dreams of winning again on the Champs-Elysees:

"He had a first taste of it and it's really an extraordinary finish. If everything goes according to plan in Paris, he will certainly be hard to beat."

Then there is the case of Peter Sagan, who could keep his green jersey in Paris without winning a stage:

"He probably rode the mountains better than any other sprinter. But for sure today is his last chance to win a stage because Marcel Kittel should be hard to beat on the Champs-Elysees," said Stefano Zanatta, his team director.

In any case, everybody mentions Norway's Alexander Kristoff, who was the second week sprinter when Kittel was the first week's? Who will it be in the third?