BMC Preident Jim Ochowicz believes in the qualities of Richie Porte and has set the bar high "Our obkecive  is to win the Tour de France with Richie," the American tells Cycling Tips . "We have great confidence in him."

Ochowicz bases his opinion on the recent Tour de France. 

“How he rode in this year’s race was a demonstration of his willpower and his ability to be able to deal with a bit of catastrophic circumstances out of his control,” he said.

Porte lost nearly two minutes due to a puncture in the second stage. Ochowicz was impressed by the way he handled the situation. 

“We could see him managing those [difficult situations] and not losing confidence in himself, not losing confidence in the team. Carrying on, making time back, coming back, coming back, moving up, moving up was all par for the course for him in the 2016 Tour.

It shows that Porte is a true leader, said Ochowicz. 

“So to me that is a leader. That is somebody who is ready to take on a challenge like the one we are going to take on next July again. We are very confident in him and very confident in the team.”