Bauke Mollema's Tour de France preparation was not quite as he had hoped. The Dutch rider suffered from back pain in the Critérium du Dauphiné and the pain has only slowly disappared during the last few weeks. Now Mollema is fit and he even dares to make a prediction.

"There is a very large group who can finish in the top five and I think I'm one of them," Mollema said at the pre-race press conference. 

He is happy that his back no longer bothers him.

"Yes, I had problems with it. With the team soigneurs and an osteopath, I worked hard to get fit. It was not the best preparation in the Dauphiné, but now everything is definitely good.

"I succeeded and I have not missed any training since things went bad for me at the Critérium du Dauphiné. I am at full strength. I am back at 100%."

On Saturday during the Grand Départ in Utrecht it can be 40 degrees but it will be no problem for Mollema.

"I can handle the heat. In recent weeks, I was in the Sierra Nevada where it was also forty degrees. That's not going to give me any problems," Mollema said.

"In fact I even think that it is in my favor. Your body needs to get used to the heat, but I have already been acclimatized. Furthermore, I am usually always good in those conditions.

"It was crazy to arive here in Utrecht with a plane, because it is really only a 30-minute drive from my hometown Leeuwarden. I look forward to start in the Netherlands. I've seen it before, with the Giro in Amsterdam. That was a really special feeling. And then the Tour is even bigger than the Giro."