Porte and Dennis in BMC squad for tour

Defending champion Rohan Dennis and new signing Richie Porte have been named in the BMC Racing Team squad to contest the Tour Down Under in Adelaide in January.

BMC sport director Allan Peiper says the team has high expectations for the race with Porte looking to win the stage up Willunga Hill for a third year in a row.

Dennis will go into the tour with more modest ambitions, looking ahead instead to the Rio Olympics.

"With Rohan and I there I think we're going to have a great team, so I'm really looking forward to taking on a challenging race," Porte said.