After two days for the sprinters, BMC's Richie Porte is ready for a weekend in the mountains. The Australian was fourth in the first climbing test of the Tour de France at La Planche des Belles Filles and after two stressful flat days, he is looking forward to terrain better suited to his characteristics.
"There was a bit of wind there and everyone wanted to be at the front. It was an absolute nightmare all day so it's just nice to get that one done," Porte said the stage won by Marcel Kittel. "Tomorrow is a bit of an unknown to be honest. It's kind of a finish that we don't normally do in the Tour de France, a 12km climb and then a bit of a plateau to the finish so I'm not sure what's going to happen there so it should be interesting."
The stage 8 finish at Station des Rousses has only featured once before at the Tour, in 2010 when Sylvain Chavanel won the stage, while Chambery the following day is yet to host a stage finish. The Criterium du Dauphine's sixth stage this year though was similar to the Tour's stage 9 with the inclusion of Mont du Chat.
ADVERTISEMENT
"This weekend is the first real big shake up. We have climb after climb on Sunday and I think it's going to be a hard weekend for everyone. You just have to see how it will be raced. There is a fair distance to the finish after the climb on Sunday so it could be a negative race," said Porte.
Currently sitting fifth on the standings, 39 seconds down on Chris Froome, Porte will be hoping to have closed the gap and moved ahead of his former teammate before the bigger tests to come in the Alps and Pyrenees.
Simon Yates unsure what to expect in the mountains
McLay needs to "trust himself" in future Tour sprints
Demare loses green jersey lead to Marcel Kittel
Tour de France stage 8 video preview
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2u2RMii
No comments:
Post a Comment