The Netherlands, a cycling-crazy nation, is hosting the Grand Départ for the 6th time. It seemed like all of Utrecht turned up last night for the ceremonial team presentation.
In uniquely Dutch fashion, each team was ferried up the canal before mounting their bikes and riding to the stage.
Bauke Mollema rode well enough to crack the top 10 in the 2014 edition. The Dutchman will be looking to improve this year.
Fabian Cancellara returns to the Tour for perhaps the last time in his storied career. He is one of the favorites for Saturday's time trial.
Expect to see workhorses Haimar Zubeldia and Gregory Rast taking long pulls on the front of the peloton to protect Mollema.
Eduardo Sepúlveda, the only Argentine at the race this year, and his Bretagne Séché teammates will target the breakaways and aren't likely to factor into the general classification.
Andrew Talansky will race in the American TT champion's kit on Saturday for the first time. He's had a relatively quiet first half of the season and will look to his Cannondale Garmin teammates to rabble rouse the peloton, as the team so often successfully does, to help him improve on his career best GC 10th in 2013. Having abandoned last year due to crash related injuries after a heroic and emotional solo ride to make the time cut, Talansky is beyond motivated.
Ryder Hesjedal is another of the big GC names on the argyle squad. After riding well in the Giro, the Canadian is in great form. Nathan Haas has been knocking all season for a win but hasn't managed it yet. His 2015 race results don't reflect how well he's been riding and the Australian will be looking to support his team in the mountains.
Look for Dan Martin in the mountains. The Irish climber has been riding well and will be stage hunting, if not going for GC. In particular, he will be eying the brutal finish up the Mur de Huy on stage 3. This is where Flèche Wallonne finishes and Martin has historically done well there. Sebastian Langeveld will be keen to have a go during the cobbles of stage 4.
Returning after a successful 2014 Tour, Bora Argon (known as NetApp Endura last year) has domestiques like Zak Dempster and German champion Emanuel Buchmann.
Dominik Nerz is the leader while sprinter Sam Bennett (third rider from right) will test himself against the likes of Cavendish and Greipel.
Matthias Frank will lead the Swiss outfit IAM, a team most likely to go for breakaways.
Nacer Bouhanni is still sporting bandages after crashing in the French national road race championships last Sunday. The sprinter says he is at 95% and will be going for stage wins.
Daniel Navarro is the French team's GC rider.
In their new camouflage kits, Alberto Contador is Tinkoff Saxo's leader as he attempts the Giro-Tour double win, a feat not achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998. The Spaniard, who withdrew from the race last year after riding several kilometers with a broken leg before recovering in time to convincingly win the Vuelta a España, will need buckets of luck and a strong team to pull it off.
Rafal Majka didn't hesitate to shoot down notions he would try to win the King of the Mountains jersey, saying he will ride for Contador.
Peter Sagan, who has had a generally lackluster year, also said his main target is to support his leader. Having endured public and unprofessional insults for much of the season from his boss and team owner, Oleg Tinkoff, the Slovakian champion is a contender for the green jersey, but time will tell if he is able to ride for both Contador and himself.
Orica GreenEdge have several cards to play with their line up. Michael Matthews will contest the sprints while Simon Gerrans I'll stage hunt. The Yates twins, after impressive riding in the Dauphiné, will be able to ride without pressure and to take it day by day.
With Svein Tuft, Luke Durbridge, and Daryl Impey, the team is looking ahead to the stage 9 TTT.
Rui Costa, 3rd in the Dauphiné and having won a stage, is Lampre's leader.
Andre Greipel has a solid lead out train to deliver him to the final sprints.
Pierre Rolland will lead Europcar while Bryan Coquard aims for the sprints and Cyril Gautier is likely to feature in the breakaways.
While he has reached the podium in Paris, Joaquin Rodriguez is not a race favorite, though he will be competitive in several stages.
Backing the world champion, Etixx Quixkstep brings a strong team to the race. If he can limit his losses in the opening TT and not get caught out by the expected winds in stage 2, Kwiatkowski could land himself in yellow on the Mur de Huy in stage 3. Meanwhile, Mark Cavendish has Mark Renshaw, his most trusted lead out man, to guide him through the usual sprint chaos.
Rigoberto Uran, after a mediocre Giro, and stage winner Matteo Trentin wil, ride in support of their leaders. Tony Martin (not pictured) is another favorite for the opening 14k TT.
Giant Alpecin caused a stir when they announced Marcel Kittel would not be on their Tour team this year. The massive sprinter has accumulated an impressive number of stage wins and days in yellow, but has been in poor health for virtually all of 2015. This opens the door for John Degenkolb to be the main sprinter and a tough man to beat. Warren Barguil will contest the GC.
Simon Gescke has struggled to find his form after returning from injury. No longer the Dutch TT champion, Tom Dumoulin is still the heavy favorite for Saturday.
Team Sky has stacked their team in support of 2013 winner Chris Froome.
Nick Roche, however, is a bit of a question mark in my eyes as he's been quiet and inconsistent at times this season. Richie Porte, perhaps more comfortable as a domestique than a team leader, will look to put a disasterous Giro behind him.
Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard are pivotal in Froome's bid for a second Tour win
With their first start at the Tour as a wild card, MTN Qhubeka bring s a solid crew. Tyler Farrar, the last American to win a Tour stage in 2011, will be a lead out man for Norwegian champion Edvald Boasson Hagen.
Daniel Teklahaimanot, newly crowned TT champion of Eritrea and KOM at the Dauphiné, will be looking ahead to the second and third weeks when the race hits the mountains.
Tejay Van Garderen rode well in the Dauphiné, even if he did prove to be vulnerable and ultimately finished second to Froome. The well rounded American has a respectable team to support him but it will still be a tall order to beat the likes of Froome, Quintana, Contador, and Nibali for 3 weeks.
Look for Greg Van Avermaet to make a showing in the stage 4 cobbles.
Nairo Quintana was the revelation of the 2013 Tour and skipped the race last year to focus on the Giro, which he won convincingly. The Colombian climber is backed by an impressive team featuring several time trialists, which will help with damage control on stage 9.
Spanish champion Alejandro Valverde told the crowd he will ride 100% for Quintana, though I'm sure he wouldn't mind having a crack at the Mur de Huy, having won Flèche Wallonne for the past 2 years in a row.
Thibot Pinaut is one of France's best riders, having won the white jersey and placing third last year.
Runner up to Nibali in 2014, Jean Christophe Peraud will face stiff completion to even get a foot on the podium this year. Romian Bardet started well last year but slowly came apart, perhaps a consequence of mounting pressure from the French media.
Health problems and personal issues kept Robert Gesink sidelined for much of the early season but the big Dutchman is back and feeling confident. Lotto Jumbo will also support Wilco Kelderman, a promising young rider with legitimate GC aspirations.
Brad Tankink and bunny.
Again the reigning Italian champion, will Nibali again be the Tour winner?
With loyal domestique Jakob Fuglsang and cobbles specialist Lars Boom willing to sacrifice themselves for their leader, Nibali knows what it will take to win the yellow jersey in Paris.
I really hate to make predictions (I even find assembling a fantasy team way too stressful), but I'm going to put my two cents in. Here's my podium prediction for Paris: 1st Quintana, 2nd Froome, 3rd Contador
Now we wait and see how the next 3 weeks play out…
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