101st Tour de France kicks off in England

It is the second time in seven years that the Tour is being routed through England, home to last year's winner Chris Froome and the champion from 2012, Bradley Wiggins.

Froome, 29, is favoured to win again this year, but faces a tough challenge from other decorated rivals, including Spain's Alberto Contador, 31, a two-time winner who lost his 2010 title for a doping infringement.

"We've probably got the best team in the race, and I'm in the condition I need to be in," said Froome. "But I'm not the clear favourite and Alberto Contador is not an outsider."

The first stage, a 190.5-kilometre sprint from Leeds to Harrogate, includes three climbs, and is followed by two more stages in England before the riders move to France.

From there the race goes through Belgium, back to France and into Spain before ending after 3,664 kilometres with the traditional sprint down the Champs Elysees in Paris on July 27.

Twenty-two teams are contesting the race, with Contador's Tinkoff-Saxo, US rider Andrew Talansky's Garmin-Sharp and the Astana crew of Vincenzo Nibali among the main rivals to Froome and his Sky team-mates.

The 198 riders will have to cross 25 mountain passes during the 21 stages, but there will be only one time trial, the penultimate stretch between Bergerac and Perigueux.

This 54-kilometre leg could be important to Froome, a time-trial specialist who has shown good form except in last month's Criterium du Dauphine where he crashed and ended up a disappointing 12th behind Talansky.

Wiggins, the first Briton ever to win the race, is not competing this year, after being shunted aside by Sky and refusing to accept the role as helper in the team built around his rival Froome.

The popular 2012 winner opted instead to return to track cycling and compete with the English team at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow four days before the Tour ends.

The 2014 Tour also marks the first-ever appearance by a Chinese cyclist. Ji Cheng, 26, was one of nine riders named on June 25 for the Netherlands-based Giant-Shimano team.

Ji will have the task of helping his squad try to earn stage victories for John Degenkolb or his German compatriot Marcel Kittel, who won the opening stage last year.

Doping issues continue to dog the tour. Contador's team dropped Czech rider Roman Kreuziger because of anomalies in his blood and Australian team Orica GreenEdge did not nominate Daryl Impey because he tested positive for the banned substance probenecid.

Tour organizers are introducing a women's stage at this year's event, with 20 teams of six women each lapping the Champs-Elysees before the men ride in at the end of their race.