French sprint ace Nacer Bouhanni confirmed on Friday he would be starting the Tour de France in Utrecht on Saturday.

A week ago, the 24-year-old crashed in the sprint finish at the French Championships and later that day took to Twitter to claim he was almost certainly out of the Tour.

The Cofidis rider believed he'd broken a rib but in the end the damage was to the cartilage between the ribs.

"I still have difficulty breathing but I'm getting better day by day. I'll be almost at 100 percent, come three or four days it will be forgotten," he said Friday.

Bouhanni is one of the main French hopes for stage wins having come into form recently, winning two stages at last month's Criterium du Dauphine.

His only previous Tour participation saw him pull out during the sixth stage as he succumbed to illness and injuries from a crash.
Source: AFP