Froome: 'We are in some really tough racing'

The team the offered the last two Tour de France winners is wasting no time. Team Sky took a part of the team for reconnaissance runs of the British roads near York where the race will depart this year.

The first three stage of the 2014 Tour de France will be ran on UK soil. The peloton will depart from Leeds and travel to Harrogate, York, Sheffield, Cambridge and finally London before crossing the channel into France.

Chris Froome, Richie Porte, David Lopez and Mikel Nieve traveled on these roads a few days to get familiar with the surroundings. “First impressions it's like my home town in Australia, I really enjoyed the riding here. It's nice after riding in France and Monaco, where I live to be in English environment,” said Richie Porte, one of the most important domestics in the team.

“We've seen a lot more of the first two stages of what' coming up in July. I think we are in some really tough racing. The second stage in particular it will be challenging. There are some tricky roads, narrow and ondulating roads, especially for the first stages when everyone is already nervous and want to be in yellow,” said Froome.

The 2015 Tour de France starts in the 5th on July and finishes 23 days later in Paris after 3,656 kilometers of race according to official statistics.