The battle for the yellow jersey should be slightly less fierce than normal owing to some high-profile absentees and it's a similar story as far as the green jersey is concerned.
The green jersey (maillot vert) is awarded for sprint points, with points awarded at the end of each stage for the top 25 finishers and to a lesser extent (just first, second and third) for the intermediate sprints during the course of the stages.
There's no doubt that Tom Boonen would have been favourite to again win the sprinting crown but his exclusion could open the door for Hushovd.
Now in his 30s, the big Norwegian won the green jersey in 2005 and has 10 Grand Tour stage wins in his career to date, including three stage wins in the last two years at the Tour de France.
He also topped the points classification in the 2006 Vuelta a Espana and won three stages in the Spanish race last year.
The problem he's got this year is that his Credit Agricole team doesn't look anything like as strong as some of his rivals' squads.
That's going to mean Hushovd has to do much of the work himself in the closing stages though his style - all power rather than breathtaking acceleration in the final few yards - shouldn't be compromised.
His form coming into the race is encouraging too as he's won the prologues at both Paris-Nice and the Tour of Catalonia, where he also won a stage.
He didn't manage a victory at the Dauphine Libere but showed enough to indicate he's maintained his form well and all his pre-race quotes seem to suggest he's in confident mood about landing the green jersey once again.
The route should also give him plenty of opportunities because there are a whole host of stages which will boil down to a battle between the sprinters.
