BMC Racing Team is taking no chances on their squad of seven riders to support their Australian leader Richie Porte, one of the main contenders to unseat Team Sky and Chris Froome at the Tour de France. Much like Movistar, the team in red has assembled a group of experienced riders and loyal domestiques and in-form riders to support Porte.
While the team may have opportunities for an odd stage win if Porte's GC ambitions either soar or come crashing down, the selections are very much geared toward an 'all for one, one for all' team strategy – more along the lines of Team Sky's style than Movistar's three-pronged approach.
All of the riders who made the team skipped the Giro d'Italia, despite there being an extra week between the two Grand Tours this year. BMC have opted for maximum freshness in the team as well as proven abilities in races against the clock and in loyalty to Porte.
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The only questionable choice from a form standpoint is Simon Gerrans, who has shown little of the spark that propelled him to the Milan-San Remo victory in 2012. At 38, he's the oldest on the team, but he's a good friend to Porte, an experienced Classics man who can protect his team leader in crosswinds and on the cobbles, and Gerrans held his own in the squad's victorious effort in the Tour de Suisse TTT, only dropping off in the finale.
Stefan Küng, the youngest member of the Tour squad, led the team across the line to win that Tour de Suisse TTT, and he will be an important motor in the Tour's stage 3 team time trial, as will Kiwi Paddy Bevin, a former New Zealand national champion in the discipline who proved himself in the Tirreno-Adriatico TTT and also at the more recent Critérium du Dauphiné.
For the mountains, Porte's climbing domestiques aren't quite up to the level of Movistar's or Team Sky's, but Damiano Caruso – second overall in Tirreno, and with a top 10 overall in two Grand Tours and 11th at last year's Tour after Porte crashed out – is more than capable, as is Tejay van Garderen. Michael Schär is a selfless worker who has slayed himself for the team over the last seven Tours de France, and even Van Avermaet showed his abilities in the mountains in the Tour de Suisse when he helped keep Nairo Quintana in check on the stage to Arosa.
BMC Racing Team's Tour de France squad
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