The White stuff
Throughout the Australian summer, Mitchelton-Scott's modus operandi has been to heap pressure upon BMC Racing. It worked at nationals, and the same treatment was applied here at the Tour Down Under. It seems that having a hashtag of 'dontcrackunderpressure' means very little in the real world.
This brings us neatly onto Matt White. In 2011, after guiding a young Cameron Meyer to victory in Adelaide, White returned to the race hotel only to be unceremoniously fired by Slipstream Sports for his part in sending a rider to Luis Garcia del Moral's lab for a VO2 test. Whether the dismissal was the right decision is as debatable now as it was then, but suffice to say, White has flourished at Mitchelton Scott. This is now his fifth win as a sports director at the race – a tally no other team boss can match. Pound-for-pound there are few better directors in the bunch, with White combining a trait for signing talent – Chaves, the Yates brothers, Ewan and Matthews – but also getting the best out of riders either deemed over the hill or surplus to requirements – Gerrans, Tuft, Albasini, Clarke and now Daryl Impey. There are of course exceptions to that rule, not everything works out, but White has not only built an all-firing team of talent, he got the best out of so many of his riders too. (DB)
Porte should skip the 2019 edition
There were probably five factors on the road that lead to Richie Porte missing out on the overall win and the defence of his title – a red-hot Daryl Impey; the stiff headwind on Willunga; not sprinting to the line on Willunga; wasting energy on the race towards Willunga when EF split the field, and on stage 4 when a slight moment of hesitation meant that his move with George Bennett was brought back. Second overall, and a fifth straight win on Willunga are nothing to be sniffed at, and the BMC leader can take positives from this year's display - not least the fact that he has recovered from his serious crash at the Tour de France in 2017. However, the 2018 edition should mark Porte's final appearance at the Tour Down Under until his Tour targeting days are over.
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Coming back, winning again in 2019, this will do little to improve his already impressive palmares, and winning the Tour de France should be his sole focus. Interestingly, during this year's race, one of his former sports directors remarked that he couldn't believe Porte was so lean and ready to race this early in the season, and there is some merit to that argument. No recent Tour Down Under participant has gone on to win the Tour de France in the same year, and while Porte may like coming to Adelaide, and may like winning on home roads, and getting a much-needed confidence boost, there is a question over whether it's the right programme. Word has it, that if Porte hadn't crashed out of the Tour in 2017, he wouldn't have been in Adelaide this time around.
The counter-argument to all of this is that Porte knows his body better than anyone else, he alone knows what his true capabilities are, and if his team were reluctant for him to target Australia's premier race then he simply wouldn't be here. Add to that that he won the Tour Down Under in 2017 and was almost unbeatable until his crash at the Tour six months later. So, for now, the jury is out, but it will be interesting to see if Porte returns in twelve months time. (DB)
Greipel's grace
A spread of winners
Attendance and coverage
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