Now Porte leaves Team Sky with a reputation as one of the peloton’s best climbers, a palmares brimming with week-long stage race, including twice triumphing at Paris-Nice, and a desire to add a Grand Tour to his CV.

And while Porte loathes still being called a domestique – justifiable given that his final year with Sky includes overall wins at Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya and Giro del Trentino, and second place at the Tour Down Under – he says that being an integral part of Sky’s Tour de France success has been a major highlight of his time four years.

“One of the highlights has to be meeting my wife, Gemma, on the team,” Porte jokes, “but, seriously, if I look back on the racing then I’ve done the Tour de France four times and I’ve been on the winning team three times. That’s been incredible. On a personal level, the highlight has been winning Paris-Nice twice.

“It’s going to be a little bit sad to leave. I’ve met a lot of lifelong friends there and I’ve got a lot of respect for the team. It’s been an incredible four years.”

Those lifelong friends and the relationships built between staff and riders are, Porte believes, something that mark Sky out from their rivals. The understanding forged between riders on the road has never been more obvious than in Porte’s role at the service of Froome, and the friendship the pair have forged as a result.

In 2013, Porte was a near ever-present at the Kenyan-born Brit’s side as Froome rode to his first Tour de France victory, while this year Porte and Geraint Thomas helped tee-up Froome’s blistering attack on La-Pierre-Saint-Martin – an attack which ultimately sealed Froome’s second Tour victory.

“You do train super hard but, at the end of the day, while it’s not pleasant at the time, when you get to race day, if Tim says you’re in great form then you really are.”

Life at Team Sky hasn’t all been plain sailing for Porte, however. Indeed, if it had been, he may be preparing for another year with Sky and a tilt at a Grand Tour, rather than moving to BMC.

But after an illness-ravaged 2014 season – when, having taken over leadership from Froome following the defending champion’s crash, Porte tumbled down the Tour de France GC in the second week having been second overall – misfortune struck again this year.

A stunning start to the season which included overall wins at two week-long stage races, Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya, had raised hopes Porte could challenge Alberto Contador for the maglia rosa at the Giro d’Italia having been handed Team Sky leadership, but the cards were repeatedly dealt against him in Italy after a promising start to the race.

First a puncture just outside the sanctity of the 3km kite cost him time overall on stage ten, before he was hit with a further two-minute penalty overnight as he had accepted a front wheel from compatriot Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE), not knowing it was against the rules to receive assistance from a rider on another team.

Another crash, again just outside the final three kilometres, eventually curtailed his race and any hopes of leading Team Sky to a first Giro d’Italia victory, with Porte abandoning the race through injury.

And Porte admits the race was a major low point in his time with Sky – and a big opportunity missed.

“I’m always going to bang that drum. I don’t think the criticism the team cops is fair but I think you have to look at it that whoever’s winning the Tour de France is going to be viewed in the same way.”

Having reflected on the past, however, it’s now time for Porte to look to the future, and a move which he says was backed by his current employers. Contrast that to the not-so-subtle criticism of Marcel Kittel’s move away from Giant-Alpecin and shows just how highly regarded the Australian’s work for Sky has been.

“I’ve spent a lot of time riding for other people,” he explained. “For me, it’s a little galling to still be called a domestique because I’ve still won races.

“But when I talked to people like Sir Dave Brailsford, Tim Kerrison, Fran Millar, Shane Sutton, they said, you know what you do need to go and take your own opportunity. I was close to going to BMC in 2012 [before Porte joined Team Sky] but it didn’t happen at the time.

“But now, I’m not going to leave a setup like Sky for just any team. BMC, I think, are a fantastic team with a great sponsor. In the Tour, and other races, the guys we have a lot of trouble at times are the BMC guys and that’s only because they’re doing such a fantastic job for their team leader.

“I think it would be nice to do the early part of the season in the same way I have done this year, but then with a massive goal of going to the Tour and being competitive. I know Tejay van Garderen well, we get along well, and I don’t see why we can’t go to the Tour and co-exist so to speak.”

If all goes to plan, Porte will once again be on the Tour start line in the Manche region of France, but for the first time in five years it won’t be in the same Team Sky squad as Froome and co.

While Wiggins and Froome have taken the headlines for their success over the past four years, the one constant through all of it has been Porte, who has achieved no shortage of success for himself, too. A British team it may be, but the departure of an Australian from the team draws the curtain on an incredibly fruitful era for Team Sky.