Naming the eight riders that will assist the 32-year-old Tasmanian, sports director Fabio Baldato made the team strategy abundantly clear with the statement: “We are going all in for Richie.”

Starting his seventh straight Tour de France, the Launceston rider is seeking to improve on last season’s fifth place and arrives with one of his most successful seasons already behind him.

“We are lining up to win the race, to win the yellow jersey,” Baldato said.

"To have Richie Porte on the podium at the Tour de France would be a great result.

“When we started planning for the Tour de France in December last year, these were the nine riders we had in mind."

As it prepares to lock horns with the likes of Sky and Astana, the experienced BMC team features just one Tour de France debutant (Swiss youngster Stefan Küng), four riders with at least half a dozen previous Tours plus reigning Olympic champion, UCI world rankings leader and last year’s yellow jersey wearer Greg Van Avermaet, of Belgium.

With 22 Tours between them, Frenchman Amaël Moinard, Ireland’s Nicolas Roche and Michael Schär, of Switzerland, form the backbone of the team while Italian Damiano Caruso is expected to join Roche as Porte’s final support in the mountains.

Moinard and Italian Alessandro De Marchi will be crucial lower down the slopes while Küng, Schär, Van Avermaet and Switzerland’s Danilo Wyss will be tasked with delivering Porte to the 21 finish lines safely.

Fresh from victories at the Tour Down Under and Tour de Romandie, second place at the Critérium du Dauphiné and several eye-catching stage wins including at Paris-Nice, Porte will line up for the opening stage time trial in Dusseldorf on July 1 in confident mood.

"I am definitely a mix of excited and nervous,” he said. “The Tour de France is the biggest goal of the season, but that means it's also another level of stress. It's a balance of being well-prepared and fresh enough to race at the highest level across 21 stages, but I feel like I'm in that position now.

“I'm just really looking forward to rolling out for the time trial next Saturday in Dusseldorf and then having a good three weeks of racing until we reach Paris.

"The Tour de France is the big goal of the season and it has been a great season so far. I can definitely take confidence from my races and I feel like I'm where I need to be knowing that July is when I need to perform. BMC Racing Team has put a great team together around Greg Van Avermaet and me. I think we have strength in all of the areas needed."