The 102nd edition of the Tour de France gets underway with an individual time trial in the Dutch city of Utrecht  on July 4.

After the Grand Depart, the Tour then spends two days in Belgium before arriving in France on stage four.

The 21 stages will cover a total distance of 3,360km (2,087 miles). In homage to this being the 40th anniversary of the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey, there are no less than seven mountain stages and five summit finishes. The Tour finishes on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 26.

Favourites to claim the yellow jersey are two-time Tour victor Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), who won in 2013 and 2014 respectively, and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) who hopes to become the first Colombian to stand atop the podium in Paris.

A tale of two Murs: stage three mirrors the one-day classic La Fleche Wallonne with the same Mur de Huy climb to the finish. A climb up the Cote de Mur de Bretagne, known as the Alpe d'Huez of Brittany, comes on stage eight.

The cobbles are back in what is dubbed a "mini Paris-Roubaix" on stage four between Seraing and Cambrai. Froome came to grief on the rain-soaked pave last year, crashing twice which led to his withdrawal from the race. Contador also struggled on this stage, while Nibali looked strong.

With its infamous 21 hairpin bends, the Alpe d'Huez will be the final showdown of the 2015 Tour with the summit finish of stage 20.

There are 10 British riders in this year's Tour: Froome, Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh, Ian Stannard and Luke Rowe (Team Sky); Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep); Alex Dowsett (Movistar); Steve Cummings (MTN-Qhubeka); Simon Yates and Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge).

MTN-Qhubeka will make history as the first African team to race in the Tour. Merhawi Kudus and Daniel Teklehaimanot will be the first Eritrean riders. Kudus will also be the youngest rider in the Tour at 21.

The lone Scot in this year's Tour is Brian Smith. The Paisley-born former British champion, who competed at three Commonwealth Games and the 1996 Olympics, won't be riding and instead will be in MTN-Qhubeka's team car each day as general manager.

Learn the lingo: much of cycling's common terminology is in French. Peloton = main group of riders; hors categorie = a difficult climb beyond categorisation; flamme rouge = a red flag which indicates there is 1km to go in that day's stage; autobus = last group of riders on the course; bidon = water bottle; musette = feed bag. Not forgetting the obligatory chapeau = hat's off.

French cyclists have won the most tours with 36 wins among 21 riders. But it is 30 years since a Frenchman last won the Tour: Bernard Hinault in 1985.