Pros: Mouilleron-Saint-Germain to La Roche-Sur-Yon, 182.5km, Sprint Stage

Me: 61km Z2, 10 sec sprint to finish

Easy enough to start. While this is a comfortable pace, the fact is the training effect will come with the volume over the first week, then more intense work over the following two weeks as the pros get into the mountains. At this stage it’s just a case of do the distance and stick to the comfortable pace.