Richie Porte surprised himself with a strong second-place finish at the Tour Down Under, and said that he didn't think overall winner Simon Gerrans was beatable. He was proud to have delivered a top result for his new team BMC Racing in Australia and now he and teammate Rohan Dennis will look for even better results this spring at Paris-Nice and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
"I didn't really expect to be second, that's the honest truth,” said Porte in a team press release. “I lost eight seconds in a bit of a silly move on the stage into Victor Harbor but it didn't really matter in the end. I don't think Simon was beatable, he was incredible here. To come here and be second, and second in the time trial at Nationals, I can say that it's been quite a good summer."
Porte had a strong start to the season, placing second in the time trial to teammate Dennis at the Australian Road National Championships. At the Tour Down Under, he impressed with a stage 5 win on Willunga Hill, a race he had won three times in a row. In the end, he finished second, eight seconds down from overall winner Simon Gerrans (Orica-AIS).
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"I actually felt better up there this year than I did in past years,” Porte said of his win on Willunga Hill. “I was really happy with how I went. Sergio [Henao] is a fantastic climber and I think Team Sky brought him here to win the race. So to ride him off my wheel like that is a great sign.”
With the first WorldTour race of the season wrapped up, Porte will turn his attention to a spring campaign that includes races like Paris-Nice and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya.
"The real racing starts in March … so it's nice to not have done that much training and still come away with a really good result,” Porte said.
Porte’s teammate Dennis also surprised himself at the Tour Down Under, and hoped for a better overall performance before the race started. He started the race as the defending champion and wanted to win the overall title a second consecutive time, which would have made him the first rider to do so. In the end, he finished 23rd overall.
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