Richie Porte's Tour de France focus remains unchanged by coronavirus.
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Emerging from a two-month European lockdown, the 35-year-old Tasmanian has been hitting the alpine climbs around Monaco with the motivation of what may be his final shot at victory in the world's biggest bike race.
Porte will join an elite club when he hits double figures for Tour involvements this year.
But while he will share leadership roles with Trek-Segafredo teammate Bauke Mollema on the rescheduled August 29 start date, he has already hinted at reverting to domestique responsibilities for future editions.
"The Tour de France remains my main goal for the season, and it starts with the added bonus of riding on my local roads in Nice," Porte said.
"However, it's definitely going to be uncharted territory racing the Tour in September. I'm not sure how different it will be, though I don't expect it to be as hot as normal and the weather might be a bit more fickle in the mountains."
Since starting the season by winning the Tour Down Under and adding a podium finish at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, Porte has been restricted to his home trainer.
Returning to the road he is enthusiastic about a possible racing return in August even though it may mean him missing the birth of his second child.
"When the revised calendar was released it definitely made it easier to get back on the trainer during the lockdown period. Now, it's been a week since I've been allowed out on the road and of course the fire is burning for the Tour de France, but when you miss nine weeks of riding on the road it's a shock to the system. With cycling being such a goal-driven sport, it's really good to have a calendar that we can now work towards.
"It was a great start to the season for me personally, but since then it's been such a strange period with no racing and not even being able to get out on the bike.
"The fact that we're going to have some races at the end of the year is good for the sport. The team has been very good at this time, very transparent in keeping us informed about what's happening behind the scenes. It's finally going to be nice to put some kilometres in on the road and get the season restarted."
With teammate Vincenzo Nibali targeting the Giro d'Italia and other stage races in his homeland, Porte will team up with experienced Dutchman Mollema with whom he inadvertently shared one of his highest profile cycling moments when the pair and race leader Chris Froome collided with a motorbike on Mont Ventoux during a 12th-stage breakaway in the 2016 Tour.
Should racing resume according to the revised 2020 UCI calendar, Porte and Mollema are aiming to re-start their season at the three-stage French race Tour de L'Ain from August 7-9. Mollema is also aiming to contest the year's third Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana.
Porte's fellow Tasmanian WorldTour riders have also been relishing the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions around Europe.
Campbell Town's Will Clarke (also Trek-Segafredo) and Hobart's Cameron Wurf (Ineos) have been similarly active with their training rides at either end of the Pyrenees in Spain. Clarke is based in Girona close to the French border while Wurf lives in Andorra where he recently became a father for the first time with the birth of Wyatt Farley Wurf.
The delighted dad this week spoke of his pride in helping to raise the importance of cycling in triathlon's ironman events.
Coming from a background of competing in the WorldTour with Cannondale, Wurf has played a pivotal role in transforming the sport's second leg, setting several cycling course records including at the world championships in Hawaii.
Interviewed on the MX Endurance podcast, the 36-year-old former Olympic rower said the process was not without opposition.
Wurf said as he faced animosity from existing triathletes which even stretched to accusations of being a doper because he hangs out with cyclists.
Wurf said his main goal for 2020 remains another tilt at the ironman world championship in Kona where he has finished ninth and fifth in the last two years.