A year after finishing on the Tour de France podium, Richie Porte is happy to be away from the media spotlight.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Saturday will mark the beginning of the Launceston veteran's 11th assault on the world's biggest bike race but, significantly, his first since he was last with Team Sky in 2015 that he is not a lead rider.
Having rejoined the team now called INEOS Grenadiers, Porte is part of a star-studded line-up including 2018 champ Geraint Thomas, Giro d'Italia winners Richard Carapaz and Tao Geoghegan Hart and former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski.
"Just to make the eight in this team is a bit of an honour when you look at the races they have won," said Porte, whose four previous Tours with the team delivered victories for Brad Wiggins in 2012 and Chris Froome in 2013 and '15.
"Just to slot straight back in means a lot to me and when you've got guys like 'G' (Thomas), Tao and Carapaz who are the main leaders, they get all the media attention which is fine by me.
"This year has just been nice because when you're on a team like this you don't have all that pressure. I've passed all that on so now I just get to ride my bike and not worry about all the background noise."
Three years leading BMC saw Porte record a fifth place finish in 2016 followed by two high-profile painful retirements before the move to Trek-Segafredo delivered 11th place in 2019 and third last year.
After his teammates helped Porte finally win a Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month, the roles will be reversed for the 36-year-old father-of-two at the Tour.
However, with so many potential winners in the team, and one of two time trials coming as early as stage five, Porte has hinted at an enviable flexibility within the British outfit's general classification aspirations.
"If I'm in a good position, it's all to play for and it's a great tactical card to have two big leaders in 'G' and Carapaz with Tao and myself as jokers in the pack because when we get into the mountain stages they cannot just let us go, they'll have to chase us.
"There's a million different scenarios and the road will always decide who's going best plus there's a lot of things that can happen with crashes and splits and while you can lose seconds in the first week, in the last week that can be minutes which will decide the race.
"It's not going to be the easiest Tour, I know that and am under no illusions coming out of winning the Dauphine because I had such a great support team there. Anything from here is a bonus and I'm happy with that.
"What I'm not so happy about is five weeks away from my family because as soon as the Tour finishes I'm straight on a plane to Tokyo."
Having missed the birth of his daughter, Eloise, during last year's Tour and son Luca's third birthday during the Dauphiné, Porte is wary about losing family time, particularly having already spent six weeks at altitude camps in Spain and France this year.
The Tour finishes in Paris on Sunday, July 18, with Porte on a flight to Tokyo later that evening before leading Australia's charge in the Olympic road race beginning at the Fuji International Speedway just six days later.
He has plenty of previous experience of celebrations cut short and said whatever happens over 3383 kilometres around France will inevitably impact the subsequent 234km in Japan.
"In 2012 when Wiggins won we had about an hour together in the Ritz Carlton in Paris before the British guys were on a plane home," he said.
"To come out of three weeks really hard racing and then have six days to recover is not easy.
"If I was to lose time at the Tour, it's probably a good thing for the Olympics because it means there will be time when I can take it easy rather than going full gas the whole way, but there's a lot of water to pass under the bridge in the mean time."
One other logistical issue has also been cleared up ahead of a month of unpredictability.
"Everyone confuses Carapaz and me because he a Richie too," Porte explained.
"So has been given the nickname Billy by the team and will be called that on race radio. I'm the old timer so I get to keep my name."
INEOS Tour team
Richard Carapaz (Ecuador), Jonathan Castroviejo (Spain), Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB), Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland), Richie Porte (Australia), Luke Rowe (GB), Geraint Thomas (GB), Dylan Van Baarle (Netherlands)
- Tour de France: June 26 - July 18 (3383km)