Richard Julian Porte is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2022. His successes include wins at 8 World Tour stage races: Paris–Nice in 2013 and 2015, the Volta a Catalunya in 2015, the Tour de Romandie in 2017, the Tour Down Under in 2017 and 2020, the Tour de Suisse in 2018 and the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2021. In Grand Tours, he won the young rider classification at the 2010 Giro d'Italia, his first year at UCI ProTour level, and finished on the podium of the 2020 Tour de France, but was also frequently hit by illnesses and injuries.

The 2015 Paris–Nice was the 73rd edition of the Paris–Nice stage race. It took place from 8 to 15 March and was the second race of the 2015 UCI World Tour following the Tour Down Under. The race was a return to the traditional format of Paris−Nice after an unorthodox course in 2014. It started in Yvelines, west of Paris, with a prologue time trial; the course then moved south through France with several stages suitable for sprinters. The decisive part of the race began on stage four with a summit finish at the Col de la Croix de Chaubouret; stage six also had a mountainous route. The race ended after seven days with the climb of the Col d'Èze outside Nice.