Paris - Australia's Richie Porte and American teammate Tejay Van Garderen will be given equal billing when the US-backed BMC team launch their assault on the Tour de France.
"Richie and Tejay will receive equal support from the team during the race," said team chief Jim Ochowicz who did however confirm the Australian as "road captain".
Porte, 31, was recruited by BMC this season after a number of campaigns with Sky where he helped Chris Froome to the Tour de France title.
Van Garderen, 27, has finished in fifth place on the Tour on two occasions -- in 2012 and 2014.
Spain's 38-year-old Samuel Sanchez, the 2008 Olympic champion and 12th on the Tour last year, was not selected for the team for the 2016 edition.
BMC team for Tour de France:
Brent Bookwalter (USA), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Damiano Caruso (ITA), Rohan Dennis (AUS), Amal Moinard (FRA), Richie Porte (AUS), Michael Schr (SUI), Greg Van Avermaet (BEL), Tejay van Garderen (USA)