Richie Porte has said there is a chance he will leave Team Sky at the end of 2015. Despite another disappointing Grand Tour result, he has dominated the stage races, winning Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and Giro del Trentino, as well as taking stages Down Under and in Algarve.

“Richie has been one of the stand out riders of the year, so of course there are teams interested in him,” his agent, Andrew McQuaid told Cycling Weekly.

“It must be said he is very happy in team Sky and has had four great years there. Right now, Richie is focused on the Tour and helping his good friend Chris Froome win it. We will sit down after the Tour, go through his options and make some decisions then.”

Porte says it wouldn’t be easy to leave Team Sky but he must consider his future.

“I’m very confident, I have a few really good offers in great teams,” Porte told the Australian Associated Press.

“You don’t take it lightly, leaving a team like Sky. In a lot of ways, it’s the best team for Grand Tour racing, but I need to think about my future."

“In any other team, bar three or four, I would actually be the Tour leader. But that’s certainly something I’m really looking at now.”

Despite Sky clearly keen to keep him, BMC appear to be the front-runners to sign him.

“We have always had an interest in Richie,” BMC Racing’s general manager, Jim Ochowicz told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“He is certainly one of many, many riders up in the market place that are available. He has been shopping around. We have been shopping around. Have our paths crossed [with his management]? Yes … but that’s all I can say.”