Porte's challenge for next champ as bumper field follow illustrious tracks

Porte built his illustrious career on the back of his 2008 victory and returns 15 years later as a happily retired 38-year-old father-of-two but conscious of how big a race win can be.

"It's definitely a race that the European cycling teams watch and I still have contacts in Europe to help young riders - male or female - make a career and that's what I want to do," said the dual Olympian whose 13 years in the elite WorldTour featured 33 wins and 17 Grand Tours.

"This is a proper bike race. There's no hiding with the terrain we have here which gives a chance for the cream to rise to the top.

"This is probably the most European race on the Australian calendar so is a fantastic place for young cyclists to show their true grit."

With Australia's only two Tour de France podium finishers on its honour roll - Porte and Cadel Evans - the tour has a proven pedigree of launching elite careers.

"You only have to look at the history of this race and the past winners," Porte added. "Cadel won it and went on to become our only Tour de France winner and so many other riders have gone on from this. It is a massive stepping stone.

"I don't miss any of it for one second and am looking forward to being in the BridgeLane team car but this is coming full circle for me because this is where my career really started."

BridgeLane teammates Sam McKee and Haylee Fuller are among riders looking to make the next step in their careers.

McKee, 18, of Launceston, contested last year's event and is now dividing his time between road and track commitments, ahead of national championships in both early next year.

"I've done all the course a few times so am definitely keen - especially for the first and last stages because there are a few less hills," he said.

Fuller, 20, of Dubbo, leads the under-23 category in the National Road Series following victory at the Tour of Brisbane.

"It should be a really challenging tour but it's really good for Australian cycling and a great stepping stone for riders," she said.

The five-day tour begins at 5.30pm on Wednesday with a prologue up Brisbane Street West in Launceston. The tour stages begin on Thursday with the race travelling from George Town to Kayena before Friday's race from Longford up to Poatina.

Former national road race champion Nicole Frain has fond memories of competing in the Tour of Tasmania and is working behind the scenes on this year's event.

"I rode one Tour of Tasmania and got most aggressive on the criterium and stage two riding for the TIS which was a bit of a breakthrough moment for me," she said.

"This year's event is coming together really well the closer we get and now we're just hoping for good weather especially on the spectator-friendly days when people are coming to check it out. I think we're setting ourselves up this year to show what we can do as organisers to get the trust of sponsors so that we can start to grow the event.

"We've had good feedback to how we want to grow the event. Maybe get the Devil's Cardigan guys involved to run something on gravel alongside it for next year."

Frain added: "After cycling I think I'd still like to be involved in the sport in some way so doing things like this keeps my toe in the water and I get a lot of fulfilment doing that."