Some of the biggest guns in the Tour de France peloton will be on show on Sunday when the destination of the yellow jersey could be decided for the coming week.
Stage 2 is a team time trial around Les Essarts and although big time gaps are not expected - it is only 23km and over mainly flat terrain - whichever team wins is likely to see one of its riders pull on the fabled yellow jersey.
"We're very excited about the time trial stage on Sunday," said American George Hincapie, whose BMC team is one of several who will ride newly built hi-tech bikes in the hope of stealing a march on their rivals.
BMC, whose leader is former two-time yellow jersey runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia, are not alone.
HTC-Highroad, Garmin-Cervelo, Team Sky and RadioShack all fancy their chances.
HTC sporting director Allan Peiper told AFP: "It's a very big goal. For whatever reasons, the status of it has risen in the last years and winning the TTT in the Tour or any other race is a very prestigious thing."
