Richie Porte is rooting for his former teammate and rival Chris Froome to return to the Tour de France and win a record fifth title.

Hours before Team Ineos announced its 2020 Tour lineup, Porte said he would not be surprised if Froome, making a comeback from a career-threatening injury, is selected this season or not.

However, the omission of 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas came as a shock to the Australian, who competed against both at the Criterium du Dauphiné last week.

"Froome was tearing the race apart. He still has the engine, but I think the biggest problem is that he lost time off the bike," Porte said.

"But I would never rule him out in the future. I think he still has the engine for seven Grand Tour wins, seeing how he was getting better and better on the stages during the race."

"I think he still has the engine for seven Grand Tour wins.

Porte, who will compete in his 10th career Tour de France on Saturday and will be the last candidate for the yellow jersey, endorsed Thomas as "the man to beat" in Ineos when asked about his Tour rival he felt at the Dauphiné.

"For me, G is probably a pretty smart rider and I think he will be good in September," Porte said of the Welshman, whose shock entry to the Giro d'Italia was announced.

Defending Tour champion Eoghan Bernal, 23, who will lead Ineos in this race, did not enter Porte's assessment until he was specifically asked about the Colombian, who abandoned the Dauphiné with back pain.

"Even when he was obviously not feeling well, he was climbing with me," Porte said.

"I think he needs to recover. He is very young, and when you are young you can recover a little bit more. With the people around Ineos, I think he will be fine come September."

Trek-Segafredo plans to send a more varied team to the Tour that can aim for GC as well as stages, compared to the climber-heavy teams of Ineos and Jumbo-Visma.

"Bauke [Mollema] and I will go for the GC for as long as we can, taking it one day at a time and seeing what happens," Porte said.

Porte, 35, will resume racing on August 3 and said he is happy with his form ahead of what is considered one of the hardest Tours in modern cycling history. He finished 15th overall in the Criterium du Dauphiné, but dropped out of the top 10 on Sunday's final fifth stage.

"The Dauphiné was a shock," Porte said, "because we were racing not at a low level, but with riders who would compete in the Tour. [It was five days instead of the traditional eight. Losing time on Sunday was honestly not unexpected. Because the day before I lost contact on the climbs, but came back on the descents before the finish. On Sunday's stage, (race leader) Primoš Roglic didn't start and none of the teams were in control. The only negative thing about that block of racing would be the final result."

Jumbo Visma was a threat to Ineos' dominance in the Dauphine.

"Steven Kruijswijk may not start the Tour because of a crash that wasn't supposed to happen, but (Tom) Dumoulin was getting better every day. We can afford to use George Bennett and Sepp Kuss.

"Honestly, Wout Van Art, who is probably the best climber of the year, is a big classic climber and climbs with climbers. They are a great team. "

The Tour Down Under champion expects the final week of the Tour to be similar to the final day of the Dauphiné.

"The tactic might be to not go into the red every day, do a little bit of your own racing, and follow along as long as you can.