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Not since 2001 has Australia's Tour de France presence been so thin, however both Richie Porte and Caleb Ewan should still be prominent from Saturday.
Cycling's jam-packed schedule has decimated Australia's presence at the world's biggest road race, with only Richie Porte and Caleb Ewan to line up in the Tour de France from Saturday.
Regulars like Grand Tour veteran Adam Hansen and 2017 green jersey winner Michael Matthews have been overlooked by their teams, while Australian-based unit Mitchelton-Scott will enter without a homegrown rider for the first time.
Seven Australians raced last year, 11 the year before that and seven in 2011, when Cadel Evans won and there was no Australian-based team yet on the scene.
Not since 2001, when Stuart O'Grady and Bradley McGee flew the flag, has Australia been so thinly represented.
COVID-19 stalled the season, squeezing racing into a frenetic three-month period with overlaps and tight back-ups between major races that have forced teams to get crafty with their nominations.
It has left Matthews off the grid for the first time in five years, as he will join up-and-coming Mitchelton-Scott talent Lucas Hamilton pushing for stage wins at October's Giro d'Italia.
Trek-Segafredo climber Porte will start his 10th Tour knowing he'll miss the birth of his second child, with stage wins and a tilt for the yellow jersey the motivation in what will likely be his last campaign as a team leader.
His path to general classification honours has been cleared somewhat, with Brits Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas not selected by Team Ineos.
Third last year, Steven Kruijswijk will miss the Tour with a shoulder injury, while 2019 champion Egan Bernal has battled back soreness in the lead-up to his defence.
For better or worse, Monaco-based Porte knows the roads well, particularly around nearby Nice where the Tour begins.
"It's a hard start ... the first day will be tricky and stressful like it always is and the second stage is like nothing I've ever seen before," he said.
"I think it's really going to be a decisive stage, tactically I don't really know what to expect.
"Some of the stages, especially in the Alps, look pretty good for me. We just have to see what happens ... the objective for me is to go for a good GC result."
Lotto Soudal sprinter Ewan won three stages on debut last year, including the final day along the Champs-Elysees in Paris, and will prioritise stage victories over a green jersey in his return.
But whether the 21-stage event even makes it to Paris remains to be seen, teams to be withdrawn if two riders or staff show symptoms or test positive for COVID-19.
All team members have entered a bubble ahead of Saturday's start in Nice and will be tested on both rest days, while doctors will also gauge the health of every rider, every day.
Fans will still be roadside for the famous event, however will be capped at 5,000 per day in a country where more than 30,000 have died from the virus.
