This year's Tour de France sets off for its 102nd edition on Saturday for a 3,360km journey that will begin in the Dutch city of Utrecht and finish on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday, July 26.

The rider with the lowest overall times will be handed the winners' trophy and the most sought after of the four jerseys in the Tour – the yellow jersey, or le maillot jaune, that will be worn every day by the rider who leads the race on overall time.

The three other jerseys up for grabs are the sprinters' green jersey for the points competition, the red and white polka dot jersey for the King of the Mountains and white jersey for best rider under 25 years.

Also on offer are the stage wins, of which there are 21.

In this year's Tour, there are nine flat stages, three hilly stages, seven mountain stages including five summit finishes, one individual time trial, one team time trial and two rest days.

The 'Big Four' – Can five or more fit in to four?

This year's Tour has been billed as a mighty four-way tussle between the defending champion from Italy, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Colombia's 2014 Giro d'Italia winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Spain's seven times grand tour winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) who hopes to become the first to win the Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998 and the 2013 Tour winner Chris Froome (Sky).

But don't tell that to some other riders intent on altering the script. Foremost among them is American Tejay van Garderen (BMC) who was second behind Froome in the recent Criterium du Dauphine and believes he can figure for a podium spot after two previous fifth-placed finishes; the evergreen Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), despite him being a teammate of Quintana and the Cannondale-Garmin team's triumvirate of Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, American Andrew Talansky and Irishman Dan Martin.

Oh … and don't forget the French stars who gave their fans something to cheer about last year in a race which no Frenchman has won since Bernard Hinault in 1985 – Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2r-La Mondiale) who was second last year, Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) who was third, and Romain Bardet (AG2r-La Mondiale) who was sixth.

Why should Australians care?

Okay … okay … Cadel Evans, Australia's first and only winner of the Tour in 2011 has now retired. But there is still plenty of reason for Australians to follow the Tour.

A number could win stages or at least play prominent roles by helping their team leaders win.

There are 10 Australian in the race. In order of their team listings, they are: Richie Porte (Sky), Rohan Dennis (BMC), Zak Dempster (Bora-Argon 18), Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo), Adam Hansen (Lotto-Soudal), Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE), Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEDGE), Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE), Nathan Haas (Gramin-Cannondale) and Mark Renshaw (Etixx-QuickStep).

So fair dinkum … which Australians are likely to star?

Let's start with the Aussies who are likely to press for the podium early – Simon Gerrans and Michael Matthews - who are genuine hopes of winning the early 'classic style' stages in the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France. Gerrans has two Tour stage wins to his credit

Matthews is racing in his first Tour, but he has won stages in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana and is in flying form.

While we are at it, their Australian team Orica-GreenEDGE are also one of the favourites for the stage nine team time trial. Mark Renshaw is the main lead-out rider for British sprinter Mark Cavendish. He will be the last rider that Cavendish follows going into a bunch-sprint finishes. In the race for overall victory Richie Porte and Michael Rogers are key wingmen for their leaders, Chris Froome and Alberto Contador respectively. Like their leaders, their priority early on will be to survive unscathed from crashes and as fresh as possible to ride for them in the mountains.

Chapeau to Adam Hansen. This is a record 12th consecutive grand tour for him after racing the Tour, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana back-to-back since the 2011 Vuelta.

Lest we forget … Le Tour has not

One spot where Australians are expected to gather in their droves is with about 20km to go in the 189.5km fifth stage from Arras to Amiens in northern France. Why?

The Tour will pass through Villers-Bretonneux where the Memorial National Australien is and the names of 10,773 Australians who were killed during World War I are listed.

The town is forever beholden to Australians and their contribution in liberating the town from the Germans. Above every blackboard in the town's school is the inscription "N'oublions jamais l'Australie" (Let us never forget Australia).

The inclusion of Villers-Bretonneux in the stage was first hinted by Tour director Christian Prudhomme during his visit to Sydney last year as a gesture of recognition by the Tour for this year's 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day.

What are the hot topics?

Rarely does a Tour de France pass without some sort of scandal erupting. The Tour, first held in 1903, almost didn't continue after the second edition in 1904 when 12 riders were disqualified for having taken trains instead of riding their bikes. Included among them were the first four placed riders overall, leaving fifth placed Henri Cornet awarded the win four months' later. The 1905 race was provisionally cancelled, but finally run under new rules. Today, we prepare for edition 102.

While the biggest scandals are so often the unexpected ones, a few issues sit in the tinderbox of controversy. Sadly, human doping is a constant, even if the sport and race appears to be cleaner now than what it was before. New to the 'must-watch' list though is bike doping, with the Union Cycliste International declaring that it will make random spot checks on bikes throughout the race on the look out for motors. Rider security and safety is an ever present issue, placed at risk by errant driving within the tour entourage to runaway dogs off their leash, overly enthusiastic fans chasing riders or leaning out to take photos, to the chaos at Tour stage finish area.

While not officially part of the race, there is concern in many circles over the potential reaction that banned-for-life dope cheat Lance Armstrong will generate when he participates in two days of a charity ride on the Tour.

For the sports business-minded fan a major issue will be team futures as news of sponsorship deals and rider transfers emerge (despite a UCI August 1 deadline before riders can sign with a new team), not to mention the push by teams to find ways of earning revenue, including their fight for a share in broadcasting rights.

So you can't get to France but want to follow the Tour?

To watch the Tour on television, SBS is covering every stage live nightly.