Moncoutié has the polka dot jersey in mind

After taking his second stage win at the Dauphiné with an interval of 10 years between the two successes, David Moncoutié has set his sights on the Tour de France. As he hasn't been affected by any major crash this year, the 34-year-old Frenchman who is known for not being agile on his bike looks in better shape than one year ago prior to the Grande Boucle.

Moncoutié will start the Tour de France for the ninth time but he has no intention to ride for general classification as he did in 2002 when he finished 13th, his best place overall. "I've looked at the course and I have an idea on what to do for getting a stage win," he said. "But I also have a plan to ride for the polka dot jersey. I'm prepared to ride the Tour on the offensive."

Moncoutié won the mountains classification at the 2008 Vuelta a España which planted the seed in his mind about possibly duplicating his performance at this year's Tour de France.

The fight for the polka dot jersey is wide open this year. For sure, someone new will take this popular jersey to Paris. None of the winners who have filled up the record books since Richard Virenque retired at the end of 2004 will take part in the Tour de France this year: Michael Rasmussen (2005-2006) and Bernhard Kohl (2008) are banned while Juan Mauricio Soler (2007) belongs to the Barloworld team that didn't get an invite this time around, probably - but not officially - because of Moises Dueñas' positive case last year.