Tomorrow the 102nd Tour de France can finally start. The individual time trial in Utrecht is the only one for the riders during the three Tour weeks. Sunday there is a completely flat stage along the possibly windy Dutch coast, the day after it’s a short stage in Belgium with start in Antwerp and finish on the Mur de Huy and on Tuesday it’s a very long stage with some tough cobblestone sections. That’s going to be a spectacular start of the Tour.

Lotto Soudal and its riders already shared their ambitions the previous days: winning a stage with sprinter André Greipel  and giving the other riders an opportunity to race aggressively in other stages so they can aim for a victory as well. For manager Marc Sergeant the Tour may start.

“I know for sure that we came to Utrecht with a homogeneous team," he said. "I thought that when we made the selection, but you immediately feel it those first days. Everyone, the riders and staff, do what they have to do. Not stressed, but focused. That’s why the experience in our team is very important. Riders like Greipel, Henderson, Sieberg, Bak and Hansen are riding the Tour together for the fourth consecutive year. The others can easily join in. For guys like Tim Wellens and Jens Debusschere it’s fun to be part of this team as a debutant. And that has to become one of our strengths the next weeks. One for all, all for one.”

“Each team has its objectives. But we want to be one of the teams who have managed to achieve those when we get to Paris. That’s first of all a stage win with André, a goal where the other riders can play a part in. It’s true that the amount of bunch sprints will be limited to about five, but it’s more realistic to aim for a victory on one of those days than to predict that one of our other riders will win a stage. That’s our second goal: animate this Tour by racing aggressively but in a sensible way. I don’t find it necessary to be in the break of the day each day; we want to play a role in the finales. And if that means we have to join a breakaway early in the stage, then we will.

“The first days might cause tension and sensation. I’m curious to see which of our riders might surprise us in the time trial, but for us the ‘real’ start is on Sunday. We did a recon of the last part of that stage and perfectly know what we can expect.

"On Monday we start in Antwerp and finish in Huy. What’s more beautiful than riding such a stage as Belgian team? There will be a lot of people at the side of the roads and we have riders that know the finale and are capable of setting a good result.

"The stage to Cambrai will be a bit different. Very long, but because of the cobbles in the finale there will be a race inside the race. On the one hand between the GC riders, who want to lose as little time as possible, and on the other hand between the specialists who will strive for the stage win. We have a lot of riders who have experience in the spring classics, so I hope we can show ourselves that day.”