Wout Poels will be one of the key rider in the Team Sky. The Dutch rider, who showed this season that he is a great climber, is relishing the opportunity to take in a home Grand Depart as the Tour de France kicks off in Holland.

"We've known for a few years now that the start would be in Utrecht and for me it's really special to start in the Netherlands", he explained on the Team Sky website. "It was the same for the guys from the UK last year and what they experienced. Here for me it's really special and I really wanted to do this Tour de France as it's extra special having the start here. It's nice to be on, for me, the best team in the world for GC riders, lining up in the race with the best riders in the world. That's really cool."

He has ridden all three Grand Tours in his career. He added what is the different. "In the Tour every day is really hectic. From the moment you arrive there are people everywhere. You don't have any privacy once you go out of the bus. It just feels so massive and busy with all the great fans. It's really nice but it can also be tough. Hopefully everything will go well as then you can maybe start to enjoy it. When you speak to people all over the world about cycling it's likely the only race they will know is the Tour de France, or perhaps Paris-Roubaix."

He thinks a lot about one of the mountain stages. "Alpe-d'Huez on the penultimate stage. It's a little bit the Dutch mountain on corner seven. That's a nice one to ride."