Richie Porte has declared his intention to go for grand tour glory in the Giro but the Australian still plans to return to the Tour de France in the summer to support teammate and close friend Chris Froome. The Australian is convinced that the Brit can repeat this year's performance in the world's biggest bike race.

Richie Porte has had a real breakthrough year and has gone from a role as a solid stage racer to a rider that is actually capable of winning the biggest races. It all kicked off when he won the Paris-Nice in March and since then he has gone on to finish 2nd in the Criterium Internationa, Vuelta al Pais Vasco and Criterium du Dauphiné - often while working for teammate and close friend Chris Froome.

In the Tour de France, Porte played a crucial role for eventual winner Froome but the Australian has clearly stated that he wants to become a grand tour contender in his own right. While the team hasn't committed themselves definitively to the plan yet, it's in the cards that Porte will be the designated leader at next year's Giro d'Italia.

"Obviously, the big goal for me next year is the Giro," he told Sky Sports ahead of the end-of-season Criterium de Saitama in Japan. "I haven't really sat down and talked to the team about it but I think it is the next step for me. They want to develop me into a Grand Tour racer and that is hopefully going to be my first big opportunity to lead a team."

However, Porte still plans to be present in Leeds when the Tour de France peloton sets out on their three-week journey on July 5. With Froome often being let down by his team in this year's edition of the race, he knows that his presence will be crucial in his friend's quest to repeat last year's win.

"I would like to start the Tour Down Under, then Paris-Nice, I would like to go back and defend that, too," he said. "But come July I want to be there in England for the start [of the Tour de France]. I do think I can do a good Giro and come out and be good in the mountains and help Chris there."

The course for the Tour de France was revealed last Wednesday and many have pointed out that the limited amount of time trialing is a disadvantage for Froome. However, Porte is convinced that his rivals face an immense task if they want to unseat the current Tour champion.

"To be honest, they are playing catch-up," he added. "They can't out-climb him, they can't out-time-trial him. Maybe there are cobbles, but Chris is also a much better bike-handler than people give him credit for and he is also going to have a much stronger team than he did this year."

Porte ended the official part of his season in the Japan Cup last Sunday.