After his phenomenal victory in stage nine of last year's Tour and fourth-placed finish overall, Western Australian Ben O'Connor will undoubtedly be looking to go one better in 2022 and reach the podium.
The 26-year-old has had an impressive start to the year, placing fifth overall in the Swiss Tour de Romandie back in April before his podium finish at the Critérium du Dauphiné five weeks later.
Following in the footsteps of Jai Hindley's momentous Giro d'Italia victory last month, the yellow jersey will definitely be in reach of O'Connor at the 109th edition of the race if he can capitalise on his stunning 2021 Tour and subsequent recent form.
Another yellow jersey hopeful among the Aussie ranks this year is Bahrain-Victorious co-leader Jack Haig, who was not far behind his fellow countryman O'Connor in fifth place at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné.
The 28-year-old also got the better of his AG2R-Citroen counterpart by finishing one place above him at the Vuelta a Andalucía back in February, and has already established his pedigree in the grand tours with a podium finish at the Vuelta a España last September.
Haig will look to match his recent successes at his upcoming Tour debut, alongside Italian and fellow team leader Damiano Caruso.
Sprinter Caleb Ewan will once again be among the ranks for Lotto Soudal this year, but the 'Pocket Rocket' will be back with a vengeance after crashing out with a collar bone injury in stage three of the Tour last time out.
The 27-year-old will be hoping to repeat his remarkable three stage victories from the 2019 Tour and two from the following year, as well as overcoming a crash sustained at the Giro d'Italia earlier in the year.
After signing for French outfit Groupama–FDJ at the start of the season Sydney-born climber Michael Storer will make his Tour de France debut this year after coming off an impressive showing at the Tour of the Alps, where he finished second overall.
Although the 25-year-old had a somewhat disappointing finish to the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month, Storer has more than proved his capabilities on the tough mountain stages when he took out the victory in the mountains classification and two stage victories at last year's Vuelta a España.
Veteran Michael Matthews will lead the Aussie BikeExchange-Jayco team, with the experience of Luke Durbridge and Nick Schultz rounding out the Australian talent within the eight-man squad.
2017 green jersey winner Matthews told SBS on Wednesday (AEST) of his eagerness to improve upon his showing from the previous Tour, which saw him finish second in the race for the green jersey.
However, the 31-year-old is confident that the addition of Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen will hold the hold the Aussie outfit in good stead for the Tour, along with the climbing abilities of Schultz and the power of time-trial specialist Durbridge.
The experience of Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) will be very much at home in the Israeli squad, matched with the likes of Chris Froome, Michael Woods, Daryl Impey and Jakob Fuglsang all over the age of 35.
Clarke was without a contract at the start of the year, lining up at the Bay Crits in Geelong without a certain future but he got a chance that he has repaid with strong performances throughout the early part of the season.
The exuberant energy of Chris Hamilton (Team DSM) was on display as he chatted with SBS Sport's Gracie Elvin after the team presentation. The Bendigo local will be making his Tour de France debut in what is likely to be a varied role for the professional rider in his sixth year of competition.
Team DSM is without a key general classification leader with Romain Bardet's condition uncertain after not racing since exiting the Giro d'Italia, and Hamilton should get some freedom to go in breakaways.
