Jim Ochowicz, BMC’s general manager, says Richie Porte will be given a program that will allow him to arrive at the Tour de France in a position to challenge for the overall win.

“You won’t see him in the Giro [d’Italia], that’s one thing,” Team BMC’s general manager, Jim Ochowicz told Cycling Weekly.

“If you are going to go to the Giro, you have to take it as seriously as the Tour, and people do. It’s time consuming,” added Ochowicz. “There are certain races you want to do for the Giro and certain ones for the Tour.”

Ochowicz says Porte and Tejay van Garderen will focus on the Tour as the pinnacle of their seasons, but they need to also achieve results elsewhere in the calendar, like the stage races they ride to prepare for the Tour.

“The Tour is the pinnacle, but we can’t just show up to the Tour without having done something beforehand. We are looking for wins early on from both of them. That’s important for the psychology going into the Tour, to maintain your position in the peloton and in your group.”

“If you want to be a Tour de France contender, you can’t just show up without having done something. We are expecting to see results right from the start with both of them.”