Dennis opted out of Tour de France selection
Tour de France stage winner Rohan Dennis ruled himself out of BMC Racing's eight-man squad to support Richie Porte next month.
Rohan Dennis opted out of BMC Racing's team for the Tour de France after recent crashes left him short of the fitness he felt was required to complete the three-week Grand Tour.
Dennis was a surprise omission from the BMC squad on Thursday as Richie Porte was confirmed as lead rider following his impressive display at the Criterium du Dauphine.
Porte finished second behind eventual winner Jakob Fuglsang, the Australian losing the leader's jersey on a challenging final stage.
Dennis was expected to make up the support team for Porte in France but he revealed it was his decision to miss out after crashing out of the Giro d'Italia earlier in the year.
"I just want to clarify that it was my decision to not start the Tour de France," he posted on Twitter.
"Due to recent crashes I simply won't be at the level needed.
"I'll be cheering Richie Porte and BMC Racing on from home and be preparing for the second half of the season."
Porte will instead be supported by Damiano Caruso, Alessandro De Marchi, Stefan Kung, Amael Moinard, Nicolas Roche, Michael Schar, Greg Van Avermaet and Danilo Wyss.
"The Tour de France is the big goal of the season and it has been a great season so far," he said.
"I can definitely take confidence from my races and I feel like I'm where I need to be knowing that July is when I need to perform. BMC Racing Team has put a great team together around Greg Van Avermaet and me. I think we have strength in all of the areas needed.
"I am definitely a mix of excited and nervous. You can't deny that the Tour de France is the biggest goal of the season, but that means it's also another level of stress.
"It's a balance of being well-prepared and fresh enough to race at the highest level across 21 stages, but I feel like I'm in that position now.
"I'm just really looking forward to rolling out for the time trial in Dusseldorf and then having a good three weeks of racing until we reach Paris."