Australian Richie Porte on Thursday dismissed talk of him being the Tour de France favourite as mind games by rival Chris Froome's Sky team.
Three-time Tour winner Froome had on Wednesday described Porte as "the man to beat" after the Tasmanian's strong showing at the Criterium du Dauphine earlier this month. But BMC's Porte said he wasn't fooled by Sky's eulogies.
"That's just one of the games they play. At the end of the day, behind closed doors they think they've got the guy to do it," said Porte, 32. "He's got the track record. Chris is obviously the one with the biggest target on his back - he's the defending champion.
"But I don't think it's just going to be between Chris and I, there's so many brilliant bike riders here, you can't just focus on two guys, it's more than a two-horse race." Porte used to be a team-mate of Froome's and helped him win the 2013 and 2015 Tours before moving to BMC, with whom he has just signed a contract extension tying him down for next season.
But having spent many years in the shadow of Froome, and Bradley Wiggins before that, Porte's form at the Criterium du Dauphine, where he lost out on overall victory to Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang after a tactical mistake on the final day saw him distanced on the penultimate climb, emphasised his stature as one of the best stage racers in the world. And the experience of leading such an important race as the Dauphine gave Porte a hint of what will be awaiting him if he manages to grasp the Tour's yellow jersey at any stage.
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