Froome to lead Team Sky at Tour De France

The 21-stage marathon begins at Mont-Saint-Michel on Saturday, July 2, and concludes on Sunday, July 24, in Paris where Froome will be hoping to be wearing the yellow jersey for the third time in his career.

The 31-year-old first won the race in 2013 before repeating the trick 12 months ago, with only seven men in the history of cycling ever having won Le Tour on three occasions.

There are three other Brits in the Team Sky squad – Geraint Thomas, Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard – in addition to five other riders with a slew of Grand Tour experience in the form of Sergio Henao, Vasil Kiriyenka, Mikel Landa, Mikel Nieve and Wout Poels.

The three Brits and Poels were all part of the line-up that helped Froome to glory in 2015 and all bar Thomas were also part of his Criterium du Dauphine success earlier this month.

And despite being a two-time winner of the Tour, Froome is adamant there's no shortage of motivation as he seeks a memorable hat-trick.

"The Tour de France will always be the pinnacle of our sport," said Froome. "Every rider obviously starts every new Tour equal and what has gone before counts for nothing. This year I am hungrier than ever for success

"There is not a trace of complacency in the team. We know how hard this race will be and how much we will have to give if we want to win it again. But we have trained hard.

"We're ready for the challenge and can't wait to get back racing in front of the millions of people in France who make the race so special.

"I feel in good shape coming into the race this year and am fortunate to have a strong team around me - both on and off the bike."

Sportsbeat 2016