"I tell you what, that's been the hardest one to win so far," said BMC's Richie Porte after having just taken victory on the Santos Tour Down Under's Willunga Hill stage for the fifth consecutive time.
Porte kept his powder dry until the final climb of Willunga up to the finish - the second ascent of the hill on the 151.5km stage that had started three-and-three-quarter hours in McLaren Vale.
But while at this point of the race in 2017, Porte was already in the ochre leader's jersey, and had all but sewn up victory before the stage had started, this year the Tasmanian went into the stage lying 20th overall, 14 seconds behind race leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).
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"It was such a hard lead-in there at the bottom when Cannondale [Education First-Drapac] put it in the gutter. I felt great, and the guys looked after me all day, but it hurt so much," Porte admitted.
And while Sagan's efforts to hold on to the race lead fell apart on Willunga, his Bora teammate Jay McCarthy tried valiantly, but in vain, to keep pace with Porte in the final couple of kilometres of the stage.
"I couldn't look back - I just had to go," Porte said. "But of course you look back a bit, and I could see that Jay was strong to start with, but I think this stage is much better for me than it is for him. I must admit, though, that with 300 metres to go I did think that maybe I'd gone a little too hard."
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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