Porte finished in the main peloton on Tuesday, just 10 seconds off the lead behind stage winner Ellia Viviana to claim 61st place after general classifications.

“We executed a good plan and stayed out of trouble,” Porte tweeted afterwards.

“It was a hectic day, it may not have looked it, but when it’s an easy stage like that, everybody’s fresh in the final and it’s always going to be a bit sketchy.”

The Hadspen rider, who quit BMC at the end of last year, was satisfied with new team Trek-Segafredo that included fellow Tasmanian Will Clarke, who sits 27 spots behind Porte overnight.

Trek-Segafredo, who had signed Porte up for two years, made their intentions known from the outset in charge at the front of the peloton.

That sort of opening to the tour from North Adelaide will only fill the 33-year-old’s confidence even further.

The luck was against Porte last year in the faint hope of defending his 2017 crown, just finishing seconds behind South African Daryl Impey.

This year Porte is expected to be seriously challenged by burgeoning Canadian rider Mike Woods on the hills.

But Porte is backing in his team to safely put him in a place to win for just a second time at the weekend’s racing.

“We’ve probably got one of the strongest teams I’ve ever been in for stages likes the last one to Willunga Hill, with guys like Peter Stetina and Jarlinson Pantano,” he said.

“Besides them, we’ve got guys like Koen de Kort, who’s one of the most experienced and very good at crosswinds, together with Kiel Reijnen and Ryan Mullen.

“We’ve got a well-balanced and solid team here, and I hope it will continue like that for the rest of the year.”

Porte affectionately called the King of Willunga, has good reason to be confident.

He has been unchallenged at the testing 151.5km climb to Willunga Hill for every one of the previous five years.

This year he will be aided after race organisers moved the now-famous stage to the final day, ensuring the general classification battle will not be settled until the final metres of the tour.

But stage three on Thursday to Uraidla features 3,000 metres of climbing – more than the Willunga Hill.

“The course suited me a little better two years ago, but this year it’s also a good, challenging course,” Porte said.

“It’s just nice to come to Adelaide in January – this race is fantastic.

“It depends how [stage three] is ridden. We did the recon the other day – it’s a pretty tricky, hard stage.”

Lining up with his new team, Porte is striving for grand world tour success, but starting in his own backyard.

“It’s always nice to start with a new team,” Porte said.

“I haven’t done a lot of time with the rest of the Trek-Segafredo boys.

“But I know most of the guys and we have a good solid team here, so I think we can hit the ground running in this first race of the year.”