Richie Porte have only finished fifth at the Tour de France, but his mechanical on stage two resulted in deducting valuable time, where he would of finished second to ex-teammate Chris Froome in Paris.

Porte’s BMC Racing Team Performance Manager Allan Peiper says 2016 only served as proof Porte can win the Tour de France.

"This year we finished fifth in the Tour de France, some bad luck happened on the first day and we lost a minute and a half, which probably cost him second place. Also with the crash with Chris Froome (on Mont Ventoux) they lost time and all the rest of it," Peiper told The Advocate newspaper in Porte's home state of Tasmania.

"The big thing for me is that as a team we now know and we believe that he can win the Tour de France, if you can finish second, you can finish first."

Peiper hopes that the arrival of Porte’s friend and ex-teammate Nicolas Roche, they have signaled their intention to back Porte in July 2017.

"I think as a team we have the confidence now that he can win the Tour and we need to support that," Peiper said. "We are building a team that focuses on him, he is the only leader and I think the most important thing which is critical is that Richie believes it – everything needs to go perfectly to win the Tour de France."