Blazin' Saddles: Pre-Tour de France report cards

On Saturday July 2, 198 riders will roll out of Mont-Saint-Michel to get the 103rd edition of the Grande Boucle under way – but only a handful of riders can have a genuine expectation of standing atop the podium in Paris three weeks later.

Let's look at the top 10 riders on this year's start list and see who's a grade-A student and who's got some much-needed cramming to do before the upcoming test.

The defending champion shrugged off an indifferent start to the season by winning the Critérium du Dauphiné in emphatic style. Both Froome's previous Dauphiné wins were followed six weeks later by the Sky rider securing the maillot jaune in Paris – although it still remains to be seen who will take on the Richie Porte supporting role at Sky: Mikel Landa, Geraint Thomas and Mikel Nieve are all candidates. Froome will be perhaps more vulnerable without the Australian by his side, but he has the experience, calibre and, it seems, form to cope.

Like Froome, the Colombian has notched five wins this season although when their paths have crossed – in the Volta a Catalunya in March and the Tour de Romandie a month later – Quintana has impressed, winning both races while his rival came home in 8th and 38th respectively. Quintana showed his form by winning the Route du Sud on Sunday after dominating the rolling time trial in Albi.

The 26-year-old also rode 150km in a breakaway en route to finishing second behind his team-mate Marc Soler in stage four on a day the race took on the legendary Col du Tourmalet. With both those boxes ticked, Quintana looks set to reduce the deficit to Froome in the Tour for a third time running. Depending on how he performs in July, he could even surpass his rival – especially if team-mate Alejandro Valverde sticks to his word and rides for the Colombian.

The Spaniard has been a paragon of consistency this season – finishing on the final podium in all his stage races until slipping to fifth in the Dauphiné. Contador has picked up stages wins in the Algarve, the Basque Country and the Dauphiné along the way, while his time trial victory over Froome at Les Gets showed that he can still get the better of the rangy Brit. Having seen many attacks thwarted in the Dauphiné, Contador himself admitted that his power and uphill acceleration are not as they should be right yet – but he's bound to put up a fight in July.

The final of the so-called 'Big Four' looked to be enduring a bit of a torrid time this year until he turned things round quite dramatically in the final Alpine stages of the Giro d'Italia. Nibali's victory in his home tour not only stunned fans, it opened the door to a place in Astana's team for the Tour de France. It makes sense: the Sicilian only came into his own in the last few days and would not have used up the same kind of reserves as Contador did while winning last year's maglia rosa. With team-mate Fabio Aru stuttering, Nibali may sniff out an opportunity in France – although he has not ridden competitively since entering Turin in pink.

The Sardinian's daring stage win in the Dauphine proved that he was not all teeth and no mouth – although there will be concerns with Aru's form going into his maiden Tour de France. The Vuelta champion could only finish 45th in the Dauphiné after struggling to keep up with his big Tour rivals in the mountains. Current cramming on the climbs will no doubt help his condition but Aru won't be entering the race with too much expectation on his shoulders – in fact, he may not even be Head Boy in the school of Astana.

A bad day in mountains in Switzerland was followed by victory in the queen stage as the American recovered to finish sixth in the Tour de Suisse. Before that his stand-out performance was back in February in the Ruta del Sol with Van Garderen struggling to make a big impression in Tirreno-Adriatico, Catalunya or Romandie. There's nothing in his season so far to suggest that Van Garderen is no longer susceptible to a 'jour sans' which could see him plummet in the standings or, as was the case last year, withdraw from the race quicker than you can say "Motor-pacing with Lance".

It's a journey into the unknown as the Australian leads a team entering the Tour – albeit on a level footing (at least, to start with) with Van Garderen. Unfortunate to drop off the podium in the closing moments of the Dauphiné, Porte kept up with his rivals on the key mountain stages and even beat his old team-mate Froome on the opening time trial in Les Gets. Although he's yet to win a short stage race this season, the form is clearly still there – but can he sustain it over three weeks? It remains a monkey on Porte's back that his best – and only top-10 – finish in Grand Tour was in his debut ride in the Giro back in 2010.

Yet to win a race or stage this season, the Frenchman was pipped by compatriot Thibaut Pinot in Méribel two weeks ago. Bardet ride to second place on GC in the Dauphiné came after a succession of strong rides in the mountains, which bodes well ahead of the Tour. The most-raced rider this season of the big favourites, Bardet has shown consistency by top-tenning pretty much everywhere except Romandie. While clearly an A-grade student, he's still yet to reach the A* standard needed to win a Grand Tour.

Won the bragging rights over Bardet in Méribel in the Dauphiné although his unexpected early season promise in time trials came undone in Les Gets where he could only muster the 17th fastest time on the short and sharp parcours. While his climbing ability is up there with the best on his day, Pinot does have a tendency to switch off during stages which should have no bearing on the GC. This tendency to lose time could scupper his chances in July. His early season consistency (seven top-five finishes in as many races) was derailed by a 16th place in the Dauphiné after Pinot lost 2:30 on the opening mountain stage.

This time two years ago everyone was talking up the American's chances following his victory in the Dauphiné. Fast forward two frustrating seasons and Talansky seems to have plateaued somewhat, with no wins or performances to write home about. Top-10 rides in all the big mountain stages in the Tour de Suisse – plus a solid final time trial – will give the 27-year-old hope ahead of the Tour. But Talansky is likely to start the race on an equal footing with French team-mate Pierre Rolland, which could cause friction in the Cannondale camp.