Richie Porte (BMC) continued his march up the general classification with an assured performance on stage 17 of the Tour de France. Porte has been involved in a game of catch up ever since the first week after a mechanical problem set him back.
The Australian has looked among the strongest in the mountains as he's chipped away at the deficit ever since. His only hiccup since that bit of misfortune was a disappointing time trial, but he has been able to put that behind him. When he launched his move within the final two kilometres, it looked like Porte had even the yellow jersey in trouble. Froome was eventually able to follow him to the line, although he gained time on all of his other rivals and moved up another place into sixth overall.
"It was a good day. I really want to be on the podium, so these are the moves you have to pull," Porte said as he warmed down in front of the picturesque views that surround the Emosson Dam. "I spoke with the directors this morning, and they said to me 'just use your head, if you feel like it, attack him [Chris Froome]'. I have to anyhow, the tempo was not so fast and it was a good time to get a gap like that. They chased hard, so that was a good sign.
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"I felt strong today, and I'm happy with how it all went. It's different for me, being on BMC and riding for myself. It's a bit different from the role I had before. I'm enjoying it, taking it day by day. The team put confidence in me, and I am happy with how today went, but there are three hard days before Paris. I'll take it day by day."
With three days left to decide the general classification, Porte is only 1:34 off Adam Yates' third spot on the podium – after gaining eight seconds on him today. Even second place is within reach with Bauke Mollema just two minutes ahead of the Australian after suffering on the final climb to Emosson.
Porte will be looking to tomorrow's uphill time trial as an opportunity to make up much of that deficit. That should have been the case in last week's race against the clock, but the effects of a collision with a motorbike on Mont Ventoux and the high winds contributed to him shedding time. A week later, the winds are gone, and the climb should play into his hands.
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