The 100th edition of the Tour de France will begin in Porto-Vecchio with a 213 kilometre stage on Saturday night with 11 Australians on the line ready for one of the most gruelling events in world sport.

The race for the yellow jersey has been blown wide open with defending champion Bradley Wiggins ruled out with a knee injury.

For just the third time since 1967 the opening day will be a standard road stage which could cause carnage. Retired Canberra rider Hodge has backed Britain's Chris Froome to be the ''real contender''. But the former Cycling Australia vice president insisted Evans still had the ability to recapture his 2011-winning form.

Evans, 36, who finished seventh last year, is aiming to become the oldest winner in the Tour's history.

''We are looking for the next champion as far as Australians go,'' Hodge said. ''If Cadel can take advantage of the fireworks among some of the other contenders, he can slip through. There's potential to get really excited about Cadel's chances.

''But realistically he's probably more of a top five finish … Richie Porte is going to be the next top Aussie, he's next in line [on Team Sky] if Froome falters and all sorts of things can happen if you're not careful,'' he said.

The 21-day, 3479 kilometre race will be the first since cycling was rocked by drug-cheating revelations in October last year.

Seven-time winner Lance Armstrong was stripped of his titles and banned for life.

Hodge confessed to using performance enhancing drugs during his career and resigned as vice president of Cycling Australia.

Australia's contingent in the race continues to grow and Hodge expected Orica-GreenEDGE to continue its rise as a developing team.

Orica-GreenEDGE will be led by cycling stalwart Stuart O'Grady.

O'Grady will be competing in his 17th Tour de France - the most appearances by an individual in the race's rich history.

''Stuart is an incredible athlete. We've all know that right from his younger days,'' Hodge said.''He's been one of the outstanding athletes of his generation. He's a fantastic role model and he's in a GreenEDGE team with riders who can win stages.''

Canberra's Michael Rogers left Team Sky at the start of the year to link with Saxo-Tinkoff.

But Hodge said Rogers was now an ''invaluable team captain'' rather than title contender.

''Michael is an amazingly talented rider and … it's very hard to see how much difference he makes to a team strategy throughout a race like the Tour de France.

''But if you had an ability to follow a rider like Michael, you would find out what an amazing job they do within the team structure.''