Having been a professional road cyclist for ten years, 33-year-old Jesus Hernandez of Spain is a very experienced rider who has continuously proved himself a loyal super-domestique – a self-sacrificing rider ready to support the team leader when the going gets tough in the dramatic hors categorie mountains. In the 2014 Tour de France his job will once again be to provide support for Team Tinkoff-Saxo's leader Alberto Contador in the mountains.

"I’m ready for this year's Tour de France. I have a good feeling. I am strong and I have been working hard in the recent weeks between the Criterium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France to come. My role in the Tour de France team roster is to stick close to Alberto Contador and support him as long as I can in medium and high mountains," Hernandez explained.

"I surely hope I can make a difference for Contador and the team and that everyone is happy with me and not least with my work. I’ve spent a lot of time with Alberto and I know that this year, he’s only been focusing on winning the Tour de France. I believe he can. I have complete confidence in him," Hernandez added.

Denmark's Michael Mørkøv is held in high regard for his remarkable level of professionalism in what is an intensely professional sport. His tactical skills are known not only on the track, but on the road as well. He has a sharp ability to read and predict the races he’s participating in, he’s a loyal supporting rider and he delivers strong sprint performances in small groups as well as in bunch sprints.

According to a team spokesman it is those factors, combined with Mørkøv's excellent condition and important skills when it comes to protecting Contador and helping him move around in the peloton, which have secured him a seat in Team Tinkoff-Saxo's nine-man Tour de France line-up.

"In my opinion I have had a good spring and I’ve been preparing especially to be able to deliver the needed performance during the Tour. I believe Alberto Contador has faith in me and my ability to support him on the flat stretches. I’ll do whatever I can not to let him or the team down," Mørkøv explained.

Mørkøv is expecting this year's Tour de France to become a very interesting, tense and viewer-appealing race, characterized by great drama between general classification favorites such as Team Sky Pro Cycling's defending Tour champion Chris Froome and his own team captain Contador.

"I think it’s going to be a very exciting Tour de France and maybe one of the most thrilling in many years since Alberto Contador has had a fantastic season so far. Obviously this has provided him with renewed confidence and he may be in the shape of his life," Mørkøv concluded.