Richie Porte may be going into the Tour de France as Chris Froome's lieutenant but that doesn't mean that the Australian has no GC ambitions himself. In fact, the Australian hopes that the tactical game will allow him to achieve a top result himself.

Illness forced Richie Porte to miss out on his chance to lead Sky in the Giro d'Italia but this doesn't mean that the Australian has given up the hope of grand tour success in 2014. In fact, he is going into the Tour de France with a dual objective: to help Chris Froome win the race and to achieve a top result himself.

Already last year Porte had hoped to copy Froome's 2012 feat that had seen the Brit finish second overall despite working for teammate Bradley Wiggins who won the race. All was looking bright for the Australian after the first mountaintop finish where the pair had crushed the opposition and made a Team Sky 1-2.

One day later, however, it all unravelled for Porte who cracked under the pressure of repeated attacks from Movistar and Garmin-Sharp. Having dropped out of GC contention, he ended the race as a domestique but he bounced back with a very strong showing in the Alps.

This year he hopes that things will be different.

"Tactically, it can also work out for me - I might have my own opportunities in this race if I don't lose time," Porte said at the pre-race press conference. "Alberto showed in Dauphine, he's happy to follow Chris around.

"If that's the case, come the third week then that's going to play into my hands. I do have some ambitions going into this race of riding for a good GC finish."

Porte has also played with the thought of doing the Vuelta later this year.