Richie Porte will make his 2021 race debut for the Australian national team at the Santos Festival of Cycling in January. The race is a four-day National Road Series (NRS) stage race that will replace the Tour Down Under due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The field will consist of national teams and big-name riders who are in Australia for Christmas and New Year, rather than the World Tour riders featured in the men's and women's versions of the Tour Down Under. Mitchelton Scott will also be competing in both races.

The men's and women's stage races will cover some of the roads used in the Tour Down Under, with stage 3 finishing at Willunga Hill on Saturday, January 23. Both races will be followed by a criterium in Adelaide's Victoria Park on Sunday, January 24.

Porte won the Tour Down Under in 2017 and 2020 and has won Willunga Hill six times. He has moved from Trek Segafredo to Ineos Grenadiers for 2021, and the British team has allowed him to make his season debut in national colors instead of Europe.

The 35-year-old is now quarantined in Perth after returning to Australia with his young family. He will head home to Tasmania for a pre-Santos Festival of Cycling vacation and pre-season training. This will be Porte's first time competing in a stage race on his home roads wearing the green and gold Australian national colors since the 2008 Tour Down Under.

"It will be great to see Richie wear the Australian colors at the Santos Festival of Cycling. We are looking forward to the festival after such a divisive year in the sport," said Simon Jones, Australian Performance Director.

Porte finished third in the 2020 Tour de France and will join Ineos Grenadiers in 2021. Porte was a member of Team Sky from 2012 to 2015, where he was part of three Tour-winning teams.

After three years with BMC and the last two seasons racing for Trek-Segafredo, Porte announced after this year's Tour that he will return to Ineos Grenadiers on a two-year contract, returning to a primarily support role.