Froome and WorldTour stars set for big weekend

Tour de France champion Chris Froome starts his racing season in Melbourne on Thursday and in Geelong on Sunday.

Nathan Haas was one of the big draws during the Australian summer, alongside Esteban Chaves and Chris Froome here. Source: AAP

Six months before Richie Porte tries to break Chris Froome's Tour de France domination, the two friends will test each other in Geelong.

Froome starts his season on Thursday at the inaugural Race Melbourne and then he will come up against Porte in Sunday's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Rd race.

Porte made an emphatic start to the season last week when he won Adelaide's Tour Down Under for the first time.

The Australian cycling star's other main goal this year is the July Tour de France, where at the very least he wants a podium finish.

But ultimately, Porte and every other Tour contender aim to dethrone Froome, who has won the last two editions and three in total.

The Cadel Evans race has achieved WorldTour status in its third year and it has attracted a strong field.

The top four overall finishers from the Tour Down Under, Porte (BMC), Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) and Australians Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) are all racing.

"I've always had a lot of confidence in Richie's abilities and always said he's a Tour de France contender," Froome said.

"It's still very early obviously in the season and it's probably too early to be talking (about) favourites for the Tour.

"Certainly for Sunday, I'd expect Richie to be up there on that final climb, as I'd expect Esteban, and Nathan to be hanging on for dear life."

Froome's Sky teammate Peter Kennaugh won the Cadel Evans race last year, and while he is not defending his title, they will again boast a strong squad.

Froome only arrived in Geelong on Tuesday night, but he has seen footage of the 174km race and likes the course.

Its finishing circuit, which the riders will go over three times, features the steep Chalambra climb.

"Every edition will be different, but the organisers have done a great job of putting in a course that is so unpredictable," Froome said.

"It is just a very open race.

"We have a strong team out here - we could have a few different cards to play."

Next week, Froome will also defend his Herald Sun Tour title before returning to Europe.

He said Thursday's Race Melbourne on the Albert Park F1 circuit would be a good return to racing.

"Hopefully it will be less of a shock to the system once I get on to the start line this weekend," he said.

Australian sprint ace Caleb Ewan is the favourite for the men's race on Thursday, which is destined to feature a bunch finish.

There will also be a women's race on Thursday morning, while Australian star Amanda Spratt will defend her Cadel Evans race title on Saturday.