Bauer, 29, of Garmin-Sharp, is racing his second Tour. Last year, he withdrew after disagreeing with a barbed-wire fence during a mountain descent on stage 19, resulting in 11 stitches to his face.
He survived, prompting team manager Jonathan Vaughters to say: "For all the ladies out there, he's a little uglier than he was before. But don't worry - it'll heal up."
At 37, Henderson is on his third tour and will again work as a lead-out rider for Lotto-Belisol sprinter Andre Greipel. The idea is Greipel's individual glory reflects on the team.
Henderson knows how the Tour punishes and rewards. He waited years for a start after enduring false hope in other teams.
Last year during the race he tweeted: "If anyone catches that little mongrel who snuck in2 my room last night w a sledgehammer n went apeshit on my legs, please send him my way."
He also crashed in the last 3km leading into the town of Tours, describing it as like "being on the bottom of a rugby scrum".
Yet there's also enormous satisfaction. "Ask anyone in the world to name a cycling race and they say 'the Tour de France'," he told the Herald on Sunday last year. "It's the only race people remember, the biggest race on the planet. It's a travelling circus. There's no question it's the high point of my career."
Dean has fond memories from his seven appearances as a rider, a record for a New Zealander. Highlights include making the Tour de France podium three times in 2010 after crashing on stage two, being headbutted on stage 11, getting tackled by a member of the gendarmerie before stage 16. He was also shot by an air rifle at the top of a climb on stage 13 in 2009.
He finally secured a stage win in 2011, in the team time trial. Standing on the Champs-Elysees podium after winning the teams' classification was his most memorable cycling moment.
Dean has since become assistant sporting director with the Australian-owned Orica-GreenEdge.
"I'll be in the car behind the race sometimes while other days, when our team is targeting a stage win, I'll be driving in front and passing back key information," he says. "The key is paying attention to detail and filtering back what is important. You don't want to overload riders.
"I still have a good feeling for what it's like to be in the race. Outside that, I try to meet the requirements of riders while taking into account the ambitions of directors and the needs of sponsors. I see myself fitting in as a bit of a mediator."
Dean did reconnaissance for the opening stage overnight in the Yorkshire Dales, which might be the most famous event filmed there since All Creatures Great and Small. One farmer had spray-painted his sheep in the key jersey colours and one resident rented out his front yard for 300 ($589) so a Scotsman could bring in his family and a couple of stepladders to watch the race.
"If you're not a fan of Tour de France, I'd certainly recommend staying away from Yorkshire this weekend," Dean says. "People are lapping it up."
So how does Dean think the Tour's appeal has survived after countless performance-enhancing drug issues?
"It's difficult to pinpoint but, in a way, that sense of controversy gives the Tour its own life or sense of history. Not until you experience it first-hand do you realise it's more than a sporting event. For France, it stops the country in July and is a way of displaying their culture to the world. Riders go by in a fleeting moment but the build-up and aftermath to each day helps that reputation.
"Globally, there's a connection, too, with more New Zealanders [11 in history] taking part these days as well as riders from Asia. Compare that to when I started [in 2004] and there were few English speakers. Hopefully that filters into better opportunities for Kiwis, especially with the likes of a team like Orica GreenEdge now involved."
