The Tour de France gets under way with a 201km jaunt from Noirmoutier-en-L'Ile in Vendee, scene of this year's Grand Depart, to the stage 1 finish in Fontenay-le-Comte.
Most of the route tracks France's north-west coastline meaning crosswinds could be a factor affecting the peloton, but conditions are warm and calm so we can expect the 176 riders to make it to the end and a bunch sprint to ensue.
Mark Cavendish will have his eye on clinching the yellow jersey for Sunday's stage 2 by winning here but he faces stiff competition from a strong sprint field
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The British contingent
For a long time the The Tour de France held a mystique for British cycling fans, an ethereal realm of deadly cobbles and lunar peaks scaled only by a lunatic bunch of Belgians, French and Dutchmen.
Up until 1994 only one Briton – Tom Simpson – had ever worn the yellow jersey, but since then things have changed, and After a taste of success with riders like Chris Boardman and David Millar in the late 90s, the Team Sky revolution took hold creating an era so dominant that Vincenzo Nibali is now the only non-Briton to have won the Tour since 2011.
Four-time winner Chris Froome is the likely to lead the British contingent in the general classification while Mark Cavendish is chasing the four stage victories he needs to match the legendary Eddy Merckx. Here we take a look at the five Britons – and one British-born Irishman – in this year’s peloton.
The contenders
Chris Froome is chasing history as he seeks to become only the fifth rider in history to have won five yellow jerseys.
There are plenty of challengers, however, looking to end his dominance of the Tour including BMC’s Richie Porte and fellow Briton Adam Yates, who rides for Mitchelton-Scott.
Here is a rundown of all the favourites for glory in Paris on Sunday 29 July...
The contenders
Nationality: British
Team: Team Sky
Stage wins: Seven (2012 - stage seven; 2013 - stages eight, 15 and 17; 2015 - stage 10; 2016 - stages eight and 18)
The contenders
Richie Porte
Age: 33
Nationality: Australian
Team: Team BMC
Previous appearances: 2011 (72nd), 2012 (89th), 2013 (19th), 2014 (23rd), 2015 (48th), 2016 (fifth), 2017 (DNF – crashed stage nine)
Stage wins: None
Richie Porte’s name has appeared on the list of contenders at several Grands Tours in recent years but the breakthrough is yet to come. At the age of 33, time is running out for the Australian, an accomplished stage-race winner, to prove he can hold it together over three weeks. Terrible luck has followed Porte every time he has targeted the general classification at one of the biggest races, with crashes, illnesses and mechanicals combining to derail him every time. His recent win in the Tour de Suisse shows he has the form, and if Froome falters then his old friend Porte could be the man to profit.
The contenders
Nairo Quintana
Age: 28
Nationality: Colombian
Team: Movistar
Previous appearances: 2013 (second), 2015 (second), 2016 (third), 2017 (12th)
Stage wins: One (2013 - stage 20)
When Nairo Quintana finished second overall as the best young rider in the 2013 Tour, it seemed a question of when the Colombian would win cycling’s biggest race. He has since taken the Giro and Vuelta crowns, but the Tour continues to elude him, despite further podium finishes in 2015 and 2016. Last year’s ambitious Giro-Tour double was a bridge too far and he could only manage 12th in France after a close second in Italy. With Froome racing in Italy this year, Quintana hopes focusing purely on the Tour will work for him, but he will need to contain the threat from within posed by ambitious team-mate Mikel Landa – who made clear in the last two years at Team Sky he does not appreciate playing a supporting role.
The contenders
Romain Bardet
Age: 27
Nationality: French
Team: AG2R La-Mondiale
Previous appearances: 2013 (15th), 2014 (sixth), 2015 (ninth), 2016 (second), 2017 (third)
Stage wins: Three (2015 - stage 18, 2016 - stage 19, 2017 - stage 12)
It is 33 years since Bernard Hinault took the last of his five Tour titles in 1985. That is an awfully long wait for another French winner, resulting in a weight of expectation and pressure which grows on any likely contender with each passing year. Bardet looks the best equipped of the current crop to cope with those demands, putting himself ahead of Thibaut Pinot and Warren Barguil by finishing second in 2016 and third in 2017. His AG2R squad are strong and fully committed, and a rivalry with Sky has been building nicely, both with their race tactics in the Criterium du Dauphine and with Bardet’s outspoken comments calling for Froome to be sidelined.
Vincenzo Nibali
Age: 33
Nationality: Italian
Team: Bahrain-Merida
Previous appearances: 2008 (20th), 2009 (sixth), 2012 (third), 2014 (first), 2015 (fourth), 2016 (30th)
Stage wins: Five (2014 - stages two, 10,13 and 18, 2015 - stage 19)
Only one man in this Tour besides Froome knows how it feels to arrive in Paris in the yellow jersey, and that is Vincenzo Nibali. The 2014 winner is a proven Grand Tour rider, having won four in total and completed the hat-trick of Tour, Giro and Vuelta wins. But there are questions over his form this summer after he skipped his home Giro to focus on the Tour, only to disappoint in the Criterium as he finished down in 24th place, complaining of allergies. Was that a temporary blip, or a sign that he is not where he needs to be?
The contenders
Adam Yates
Age: 25
Nationality: British
Team: Mitchelton-Scott
Previous Appearances: 2015 (50th), 2016 (fourth)
Stage wins: None
For two weeks a Yates twin bossed the Giro d’Italia. Two months on from Simon’s run in pink, what can Adam do in the Tour? The 25-year-old took fourth place overall in 2016 and won the young riders’ classification, so a podium finish looks a realistic target this time around with Mitchelton-Scott electing to leave sprinter Caleb Ewan at home to go all-in for Yates. His season was interrupted by injury at the start, but he has bounced back and was second to Thomas in the Criterium, picking up a stage on the way. The list of white jersey winners that have gone on to take yellow is short, but Yates is not a man who frets over such records.
The Tour de France 2018 is under way!
194km to go
One to watch
170km to go
150km to go
130km to go
Prediction
A bunch sprint to be claimed by one of the power riders – we'll pick Marcel Kittel.
How to watch on TV
The race will be shown live on Eurosport and ITV.
Odds
Fernando Gavaria 9/4
Marcel Kittel 9/2
Arnaud Demare 6/1
