Tag: Richie Porte

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Porte Withdraws from Giro

Richie Porte

Richie PorteTeam Sky’s Richie Porte has withdrawn from the Giro d’Italia to recuperate and focus on his support of Chris Froome in the Tour de France, which begins on July 4 in Utrecht.

 

The Australian rider had began the Giro with overall victory as the target, but was forced to withdraw following a crash towards the end of Friday’s 13th stage to Jesolo. Porte injured his knee and hip with the final week ahead.

 

Porte said on teamsky.com ‘I’m gutted it’s ended this way… The Giro has been my main goal this year and I’ve worked incredibly hard all season with this race in mind.’

 

Porte was well positioned in fourth place and his withdrawal, along with Rigoberto Uran’s (Etixx-Quick-Step) drop in form, leaves favourite Alberto Contador firmly in the driving seat. The race gets underway again today as it heads for next Sunday’s conclusion in Milan.

 

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Sky Announce Giro d’Italia Squad

Giro d'Italia

Giro d'ItaliaTeam Sky have announced that Richie Porte will lead Team Sky for the first Grand Tour of the year, the 2015 Giro d’Italia. Porte, who has already won Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and Giro del Trentino this season, will lead the nine-man team which features Italian riders Salvatore Puccio and sprinter Elia Viviani, alongside Bernhard Eisel, Sebastián Henao, Vasil Kiryienka, Leopold König, Mikel Nieve and Kanstantsin Siutsou.

 

On confirming the team line-up for the Giro d’Italia Team Principal, Sir Dave Brailsford, said: ‘Team Sky has had a great start to the year and we are going into the first Grand Tour of the season with a strong team, led by Richie… Richie is entering the race in good shape and with real focus and determination. He’s made a lot of small changes across a number of areas in his preparation and training this season after the illness that affected his performance in 2014. His results this season speak for themselves with excellent wins at Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and Giro del Trentino. This is one of the biggest and toughest races to win in the calendar but we go to the Giro confident about the challenge ahead.’

 

Porte adds: ‘The Giro d’Italia has been my main goal of the season. I’ve worked very hard through the winter and am entering the race strong, healthy and up for the challenge. The competition will be tough, and obviously anything can happen in a Grand Tour, but we’ve got a great group of riders going into the race and we are ready for it.’

 

The 98th edition of Giro d’Italia starts on Saturday May 9 with a TTT in San Lorenzo al Mare and concludes on Sunday May 31 in Milan.

 

Full details of the Giro d’Italia at gazzetta.it and on Team Sky at teamsky.com

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Team Sky Tour Down Under Squad

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Team Sky logoTeam Sky have announced the seven-man squad that will lead the charge for the 2014 season opener, the Tour Down Under, which runs January 19-26. Geraint Thomas will lead the team alongside Richie Porte, former Tour Down Under stage winner Chris Sutton, Bernhard Eisel, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and making his Sky debut Philip Deignan. The Australian race has invariably proven a success for Team Sky, which has seen them finishing on the overall podium on three of the last four occasions. The event will form part of the team’s build up for the prestigious Spring Classics once again, with success in Australia a key stepping stone for the riders.

 

Commenting on the team’s chances, Richie Porte commented: ‘I want to go to (the) Tour Down Under and perform. As an Aussie it’s the race to win… It used to be a sprinter’s race but now there are some good climbs in there like Corkscrew and Willunga. I’ve spent a bit of time in Adelaide so I know the climbs pretty well. I think if I’m in good form and we have a strong team there – if not me then through Geraint Thomas – we also have a really good chance. He was brilliant there last season so it should be an interesting race.’

 

Further details on the Tour Down Under at tourdownunder.com.au

 

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Chris Froome Wins Criterium du Dauphine

Chris Froome Wins Criterium du DauphineChris Froome and Richie Porte took two of the top four positions – second and fourth respectively – on the mountainous final stage (155.5km, Sisteron to Risoul) at the Criterium du Dauphine yesterday (Sunday, June 9). Even more significantly the placing secured Froome the overall win of the week-long stage race, emulating Sir Bradley Wiggins, who triumphed in 2011 and 2012; Porte took second place just 58seconds adrift of his teammate with Katusha’s Daniel Moreno on +2:12 over Froome’s total time of 29hr 28’46”.

 

Speaking after yesterday’s stage Froome said, ‘This win is a massive achievement for me. I was using the Dauphine as build up to the Tour de France, but to have come away with the victory here, I couldn’t have asked for any more, and to have my best friend in second place is the perfect scenario. It would have been great to win the stage as well but we have already won two of those this week and it just proved impossible to reel in De Marchi in the end.’

 

Nicolas Portal, Team Sky Sports Director, added, ‘It was nice to finish with such a fantastic performance. The team were super strong and then Froomey and Richie rounded it off in style. Those two have ticked off every goal they’ve set this season, raced hard, and enjoyed a lot of success. That breeds massive confidence within the rest of team because they know their efforts won’t be wasted and that Richie and Froomey can deliver the results.’

 

Froome is now clearly one to watch at the Tour de France which begins on June 29 in Corsica.

 

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Richie Porte: Aussie Rules at Paris-Nice

Richie Porte wins Paris-NiceRichie Porte of Team Sky has become the first Australian to win Paris-Nice following a stunning climb of the Col d’Eze at the end of the final stage, 9.6km Individual Time Trial. The 28-year-old Tasmanian rider went into today’s stage in yellow as a firm favourite, not least because as a resident of nearby Monaco he knows the terrain intimately and had even told reporters earlier that he tackles the intimidatingly steep Col d’Eze, ‘…every other day.’ Regardless of any ‘home turf’ advantage, Porte’s performance over the last week of riding at the Paris-Nice has been exceptional (and exceptionally well supported by the wider team); as a domestique who served as one of Wiggin’s most reliable lieutenants through 2012 he never waivered and now, seemingly unshackled, looks certainly to be one to follow.

 

Today’s ITT stage time for Porte was set at 19minutes 1second, just four seconds slower than the fastest time ever up the climb, which was set by Wiggins in 2012. Garmin Sharp’s Andrew Talansky landed 23seconds adrift for second place on the ITT Stage – and second overall to boot (+55seconds), whilst Movistar’s Nairo Quintana took third on the stage and Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R) was third overall. Speaking afterwards, Porte said, ‘I can’t believe it. The first Aussie to win such a big race and it’s just an honour to have my name up there with Bradley Wiggins, Tony Martin and all the big champions.’