Luke Rowe played a crucial role in Chris Froome's 2015 Tour de France win and  he's relieved to feel a lot fresher than he did this time last year.

Rowe picks out three positives that give him hope for the five days ahead, focusing on the teamwork and spirit of the eight guys around him.

"There's so many positives to take," the 26 year old tells TeamSky.com. "Firstly, where we are on GC and the advantage Froomey has. Secondly, we've still got all nine guys in the race, all fighting fit, healthy and raring to go, which a lot of teams haven't, and thirdly the way we are as a team, how solid we are, and how we're riding. Everything has fallen into place nicely and we're excited about the next few days.

"We've got a really tight knit bunch here. We're nine guys, all on the same wavelength, and we're here for one purpose and one purpose only: to take the yellow jersey to Paris. It's a pleasure to be a part of to be honest."

So far, so good, and Rowe has been a pivotal factor on the Tour's flatter days, guiding Chris Froome through the crosswinds with aplomb - and paving the way for his exhilarating attack on stage 11.

"Every day we've ticked a big box. We've pretty much nailed it from day one on the flatter days, always been at the sharp end of the action and never missing splits. It's far easier said than done but when nine guys this strong buy into one goal and believe in it, that's a pretty formidable force.

"When Froomey attacked I'd literally just finished a turn around 100 metres beforehand, I'd given it everything I could to try and split it, and I could see it was fragmenting. That's when Sagan and Froomey went and took the initiative. Then G [Greaint Thomas]bridged across and without that I think they might have been caught. But he was committed 100% to getting them to the line and he was a massive asset."

Froome gained several seconds with that attack to extend his lead at the top of the GC, having descended into the yellow jersey in some style by winning stage eight, and Rowe added that it has been great to see his team leader riding with such panache.

"It's pretty impressive. It just shows he's not a robot, he's a real bike racer, he's gritty: to see the yellow jersey attacking in a group of four in crosswinds is pretty spectacular and it shows he's prepared to put his balls on the line for this. It's been a really impressive performance."

On the race's more mountainous days Rowe's work is often done midway through the stage and he, along with Ian Stannard and Vasil Kiryienka, will join the day's grupetto, a large group of riders who ride together to get to the line inside the day's time limit.

"It's a fine balance," he explains. "You work out the rough time limit, do a bit of mathematics to know how much you can lose, but at the same time you can't switch off completely and go easy because you will miss it. Some people might think once your job is done it's easy, but we've still got to get over massive Cols, and the grupetto isn't a happy place. Nobody is there because they want to be there - they're there because they have to be."

Being in the grupetto can make it a little tricky to keep up to date with what's going on up the road. Rowe explains:

"Sometimes you can still get signal on the radio to hear what's going up front, but just hearing the race radio doesn't give a full picture, so often I'll slip back and speak to Servais [Knaven], who's the second DS, and ask him for updates. How's Froomey doing, how far to go, and then cross my fingers and hope Froomey does the business - which, for 16 stages, he has been."

Of course, there was a chance it could all have gone wrong on Mont Ventoux, when Froome was involved in a crash with a motorbike, broke his bike, and ended up running towards the top of the climb in a desperate attempt not to lose any time.

Once he'd worked out what had happened, Rowe admits his first reaction was one of anger, but he and the rest of the team have enjoyed a chuckle about it since.

"I found out bits and bobs of information from the team car, but I couldn't really paint the full picture in my head until I'd got to the bus and watched it on the TV. It's really disappointing to see, but luckily the UCI made the right decision to give Froomey the time they did.

"At the time I was angry, as you would be, seeing your team leader and, more than that, a bloody good mate crashing like that… But looking back now you can't help but have a laugh. We've had some banter with him, he's taken it really well, and had a good laugh at himself too!"