Tom Dumoulin is the one of the favorite riders to wear the first yellow jersey this year. Indeed, the Giant-Alpecin rider, who won two time trial and finished a third place overall in the recent Tour de Suisse, is in a great shape. Even if he is at home, the Dutch rider has been studiously ignoring the pressure.

"That's something for the media to do. As the time trial approaches I care less and less what people think. I'm just doing my thing. I trained well on Monday and again today", he explained during the pre-race press conference. 

Last weekend, he did not win the Dutch national championship time trial title. He was ill. "The national time trial championships was not good, but I knew that could happen after the Tour de Suisse. There's about a week and a half between the championship and the start of the Tour de France. Everything is under control. I have no trouble with the expectations," he said. "Maybe I can be satisfied with a second or third place, provided that I know for sure that I have left everything out there. The trick is to focus and continue to have a good attitude."