Richie Porte and his BMC Racing team have jumped to the top of the WorldTour standings after a successful week at the Tour Down Under. Porte sealed the overall victory with a commanding performance at the WorldTour opener, which saw him take two stage victories along the way.
“"I'm really, really proud of Richie Porte and the entire team. We came here wanting to win with Richie, and he was really motivated for a good result, and a good start to the season,” BMC Racing directeur sportif Fabio Baldato said in the team press release. “The team was just perfect. Richie obviously showed how strong he was on Paracombe and Willunga, but the way all six of his teammates rode around him and for him every stage was really impressive."
Porte sits at the top of the standings with a total of 660, some 240 more than the next nearest rider Esteban Chaves. The Colombian was Porte’s only serious rival in the ride for the ochre jersey but fell short by 48 seconds. Jay McCarthy, who finished third Down Under, is third in the WorldTour standings with 325 points, 95 behind Chaves.
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In the team rankings, BMC Racing leads the way thanks to, primarily, Porte’s performance. Rohan Dennis and Damiano Caruso added some points to the total, bringing them up to 845. Orica-Scott is hot on their heels with 690 points, with Chaves and Caleb Ewan contributing heavily. Ewan had a great week, claiming four stage wins and spending a day in the leader’s jersey.
Bora-Hansgrohe have got themselves off to a good start in their debut at WorldTour level and are third in the team standings, after McCarthy’s third place overall and a run of second place finishes from Peter Sagan and Sam Bennett.
All 18 WorldTour teams did manage to get some points on the board, but some had quieter weeks than others with FDJ and Astana languishing at the bottom of the standings. The Cadel Evans Road Race will be the next instalment of the WorldTour calendar, but with WorldTour points not available in new races, there will be no changes to the standings until Paris-Nice at the beginning of March.
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