Richie Porte has confirmed that he will be joining BMC.
The Team Sky rider has ended months of speculation and rumour by announcing that he will leave the Tour De France winning team on the day the cycling transfer window opened.
The Tasmanian is quoted as saying: “I was close to coming to the BMC Racing Team four years ago.
“This time, it was a hard decision, but the right decision. Obviously, Cadel left his legacy with the team. When he was racing, it was almost like it was partially an Australian team.
“There were always so many Aussies at the races with BMC caps on. With them still having Rohan Dennis and Campbell Flakemore – who is from Tasmania like me – the team still does have a fairly Australian flavour.
“It is exciting to be going to a team where I am going to have so many opportunities for myself to win races.”
Porte will start with BMC on January 1st.