When the 2014 Tour de France started in Britain with a British reigning champion riding for a British team, in some quarters there was the feeling that a piece of French heritage was being dragged across the channel.

To make things even worse, the British manager of champion Team Sky, Dave Brailsford, had almost condescendingly said his next challenge might be to try to win the Tour with a Frenchman.

For the previous two years, Britain had been the epicenter of the Tour de France as Team Sky won the 2012 and 2013 editions with first Bradley Wiggins and then Chris Froome.