Richie Porte (BMC) put in an aggressive showing on the first Tour de France stage with a serious mountain-top finish, putting his team to work controlling the race, but the Australian simply could not dislodge defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky). The pair finished together, with Froome taking a four-second time bonus to gain the race lead and inch out his advantage on Porte, who now sits in fifth place at 39 seconds.
Taking an optimistic view on the stage, Porte first complimented his BMC teammates for their hard day's work before expressing some regret with the end result of the stage. "I can't say enough about my team. They were incredible today. They took it off. I think they took it to them," Porte said.
The stage started with a lot of question marks regarding the tactics of the overall contenders. Froome enjoyed a good advantage over his rivals thanks to a strong time-trial on stage 1. Porte trailed Froome by 35 seconds and seemed obliged to try and make up ground. The first-category final climb, La Planche des Belles Filles, was the battlefield.
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In the approach to the climb, BMC took the initiative to keep the breakaway group under control. That way, the GC riders were not only fighting for positions on the overall leader board, but also for the stage victory.
In the end, Porte was unable to get that stage win. Italian champion Fabio Aru (Astana) powered away in the final two kilometres and netted a big victory. Porte made a move in the final kilometres but struggled on the final steepest sections. Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) and Froome preceded him on the line, but Porte seemed content with his performance and the outcome of the stage.
"In the final it slipped away. I'm still happy with my ride in the first mountains stage. I kind of expected a little bit more but it's a long way to go," Porte said from the middle of a media scrum at the top of La Planche des Belles Filles.
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