Richie Porte (BMC Racing) solidified his overall lead at the Tour Down Under on Saturday, once again proving he's easily the strongest rider at the WorldTour opener by riding away from the rest of the contenders on Willunga Hill to take his second stage win of the race. Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) put in an impressive effort on the climb, finishing ahead of Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) to take second.
Porte now leads the overall by 48 seconds over Chaves, while Haas jumped to third overall, 51 seconds back. Gorka Izagirre (Movistar), who started the day second overall, struggled on the final climb and dropped out of the top 10.
Porte arrived at the bottom of the climb with all the major contenders after the peloton reeled in the survivors from the day's breakaway. Team Sky set the tempo at the bottom for Sergio Henao, but Port was having none of it and jumped away with about 2km remaining. Rafael calls (Lotto Soudal) and Chaves initially tried to stay with him, but just like on the stage 2 climb to Paracombe, they were no match of this power.
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Porte acknowledged his performance on Willunga Hill made his job on Sunday a bit easier with another dominant performance on Willunga Hill.
"I think it will make tomorrow a little bit more relaxed for us," he said.
Porte also said his performance so far this week, with another stage win on the difficult Paracombe climb, bodes well for his season.
How it happened
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