Richie Porte (BMC Racing) maintains that while he has respect and a long-standing friendship with Chris Froome (Team Sky), he is ready to lock horns with him at the Tour de France next season.
The pair raced together at Team Sky with Porte playing instrumental roles in Froome's wins in 2013 and 2015. The Australian's departure to BMC Racing at the start of 2016 saw them clash on the road, and although Porte finished a distant fifth to Froome in July, he has stressed that his former team's superiority does not affect him.
"I'm not psyched out by it at all. Obviously they were fantastic this year and Chris threw a bit of a curve ball at the Tour with that attack on the descent but no one was really expecting that. That's the thing with Sky, they don't just want to smash it on the mountains. Froome will attack in the cross-winds with Geraint Thomas as well. It's not the predictable team that everyone thought it was."
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Porte was speaking to Cyclingnews at BMC Racing's recent training camp in Denia, Spain where the team confirmed that the 31-year-old would lead their Tour de France challenge in 2017.
This year Porte lost time in the first week due an untimely puncture, however he was one of the strongest riders in the mountains during the second and third weeks. The 5:17 deficit between Froome and Porte this year, however, underlined the Team Sky rider's dominance. How does a rider who rode in Froome's shadow try and usurp the current champion?
"I guess that's a question everyone is thinking about," he said. "I read recently that Steven de Jongh said that there was a tactical weakness but to be honest I'm not too sure. It was a very different team that they had at the Tour when compared to the one that was at the Vuelta and there's no denying that Froome is the Grand Tour rider of his generation. He's physically and mentally the strongest and the team behind him is hard to beat.
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