Eight former Grand Tour champions will start the 2015 Tour de France with Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador aiming for another yellow jersey.

That trio are the only previous winners of Le Tour who will race this year, with the 2015 edition set to begin in Utrecht, Netherlands on Saturday and finish in Paris on July 26.

But with the past four general classification (GC) winners also carrying the label of first-time champions, could it be the year for someone like Nairo Quintana?

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), 30, Italy

Nibali will be aiming to become the first legal back-to-back Tour de France champion since Miguel Indurain when he begins the individual time trial in Utrecht. With Astana having endured a drawn-out investigation into their UCI World Tour licence this year, Nibali and his Kazakhstan-based team have struggled to have an impact in 2015 so far. But having won his second straight Italian national championship last week - his first victory of the year - the Messina-born rider has at least found form at the right time.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), 32, Spain

'El Pistolero' notched his seventh Grand Tour GC title in May when he prevailed over Fabio Aru (Astana) to win the Giro d'Italia. Despite Aru having the stronger team around him - a good sign for Nibali in France - Contador controlled the three-week race beautifully, wearing the pink jersey for 16 days as the likes of Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-Quick Step) and Richie Porte (Team Sky) fell away. While no rider has won the Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998, Contador at least has experience winning two Grand Tours before, claiming both the Giro and the Vuelta a Espana in 2008.

Chris Froome (Team Sky), 30, United Kingdom

The 2013 winner will be aiming to make up for a disappointing defence of his title last year. Froome crashed twice on a windy and wet stage five as Lars Boom triumphed on the cobblestones. With this year's stage four including a hint of Paris-Roubaix, Froome will be desperate to get through Tuesday unscathed and take advantage of Sky's strong team including Porte, Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh and Ian Stannard. Froome won the Criterium du Dauphine last month and was third at the Tour de Romandie.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar), 25, Colombia

Having finished second in 2013, the pint-sized Colombian avoided Le Tour last year to focus on the Giro and claimed his maiden Grand Tour success in Italy. Quintana has not raced on the World Tour since the Tour de Romandie, which ended on May 3, so should be fresh for an all-out tilt at the yellow jersey. A prolific climber, who has gone close in the world's most famous cycling race before, Quintana is the most likely debut winner in the 2015 peloton. The 25-year-old won the Tirreno-Adriatico ahead of compatriot Uran, Contador and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).

Tejay van Garderen (BMC), 26, United States

Riding in his first Tour post-Cadel Evans, Van Garderen will be BMC's main man over the next three weeks. The American finished fifth last year and in 2012, while he also won the white jersey as the best young rider three years ago, so he has pedigree in France. With BMC having won the world team time trial last year, Van Garderen will have an advantage over the other GC contenders on July 12 in Brittany. Van Garderen has finished second at the Criterium du Dauphine and Tour of Oman this year.

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), 25, France

Another youngster who will be looking to step up this year, Pinot was the Tour's best young rider last year and finished third overall behind only Nibali and Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale). Pinot has had a strong year without winning anything, claiming second at the Criterium International, plus fourth overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse. Pinot is widely considered a future Tour champion but this year still seems too soon, while FDJ may not have the personnel required to dominate the peloton.

Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-Quick Step), 28, Colombia

Uran has not raced at the Tour since 2011 when he supported Bradley Wiggins at Sky and finished 23rd overall. Since then, he has claimed silver in the men's road race at the 2012 Olympic Games, won the young rider classification at the Giro d'Italia and twice finished second at Italy's Grand Tour. Uran was struck down by bronchitis during the Tour de Romandie, which saw him struggle at the Giro this year. Etixx's split loyalties - they will be backing Mark Cavendish for the green points jersey and have world champion Michal Kwiatkowski in their squad too - could hurt Uran's GC aspirations.

Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida), 28, Portugal

A former world champion, Costa has been one of the more promising GC contenders to take a significant step up over the past year or so but has still finished no higher than 18 at a Grand Tour. Finally the main man at one of the bigger teams, the Portuguese national champion has produced some impressive results - winning the Tour de Suisse last year and finishing third behind Froome and Van Garderen at the 2015 Dauphine - but a lack of top-line victories this year counts against him. Costa is ranked fourth on the World Tour points standings, however, heading into the Tour.

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 36, Spain

The oldest man on this list, Rodriguez boasts an impressive Grand Tour record - 10 top-10 finishes across the Tour, Giro and Vuelta - but has never broken through for an overall victory. Last year, Rodriguez rode the Tour to build fitness for the Vuelta, where he finished fourth. With an overall victory at the Tour of the Basque Country, Rodriguez can never be ruled out and provides an interesting two-pronged attack for Katusha alongside Simon Spilak, who has top-three finishes at Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse, including victory in the latter.