But far from having his calendar dominated by those three weeks in July, the Launceston rider is relishing representing a team with a broader perspective.

While still high on his agenda, Le Tour will be just another assignment rather than the be-all and end-all.

As a result, Porte said he has yet to study the course, or even look at what lies in store on Sunday, July 14 –  the day of the ninth stage that has seen him crash out for two years running.

After two years with SaxoBank, four with Sky and two at BMC, the new dad joins Trek-Segafredo on a two-year contract conscious that his pro career is nearer the end than the beginning.

“It’s a team I’ve been close to joining a couple of times. I had an offer a couple of years ago. It’s one of the nicer teams in the peloton,” he said. “It really takes the pressure off. With Trek, the Tour’s not the reason why they signed me.

“You go there and have a crash and it’s like the season is looked at as a disaster, but it’s not. If you win other races, it’s still a good season.

“My focus will be on a bit of everything. They’ve signed me to win races I’ve won before.

“Tour de Suisse last year was the biggest race I’ve won in my career, being a nine-day race. I would put that above Paris-Nice. Outside the Grand Tours, it’s probably the biggest. If I can do that again it would be great.

“Then I go to the Tour and see what happens and hopefully have less bad luck than the last two years.”

Victory for the sixth year running on the Willunga Hill stage of the Tour Down Under provided a familiar start to Porte’s campaign, followed by a 29^th place in Sunday’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and this week’s Herald Sun Tour before he heads back to his European base in Monaco.

After a hectic period of travel at the end of last year - taking in Hong Kong, China, Denmark, the UK, Monaco and Australia - Porte has relished returning to his familiar Scottsdale loop training rides.

And the Tasmanian support has stretched to the company as well as the scenery with new teammate Will Clarke accompanying the daily rides along with a host of the state’s sporting elite including Commonwealth Games triathlon champion Jake Birtwhistle, world champion rower-turned-ironman triathlete Ali Foot, athletics world championship representative Josh Harris, former pro cyclist Josh Wilson and aspiring TIS prospect Zac Johnson.

Porte’s program is also likely to include targeting a third Paris-Nice title, Volta a Catalunya, Tour of California and Criterium du Dauphine as he chases more WorldTour victories and, hopefully, an injury-free season.

“I’ve now broken my collarbone twice and my scapula and you do still feel it,” he said.

“This year I’ve been doing pilates to get my mobility back and it’s good to do other stuff to strengthen my body because accidents have knocked me around.

“You do not want to be riding a bike for too long. It’s a lot of time away from home. Three days after my son was born I was away. There’s other things going on in your life.”

Porte’s marriage to Gemma and the arrival of baby Luca earlier this year has inevitably refocused his perspective on a sport that has been his life since switching from triathlon and giving up a job as a lifeguard at the Launceston swimming pool.

“I will probably do at least another four years, that will take me up to 37,” he said.

“I’ll just take it while I’m getting offered contracts. It’s not a bad job. It has its moments.”