Porte hoping to make high-five on Willunga

RICHIE Porte has welcomed the pressure on him for this week’s Santos Tour Down Under, if not to defend his title then to win on Old Willunga Hill for a fifth year in a row.

The BMC leader starts today’s race as favourite for the ochre jersey and will be looking to avoid trouble and splits in the bunch on a sprinterfriendly Stage 1 from Port Adelaide to Lyndoch.

“To win the Tour Down Under for me, who was close so many times, to finally tick it off, I’d still love to do it again,” Porte said.

“Simon [Gerrans] and I were talking about it the other day, nobody has ever gone back-to-back, Simon has won it every second year [2006, ’12, ’14, ’16], so, of course, it would be nice motivation but I think it’s easy to be motivated here for this race, which is one of the best on the calendar.

“It’s not different to how it was last year when I crashed out of the Olympic road race, so it was my first race back.

“If there is not expectation [on me] to win [again], then there will be expectation to win on Willunga, I’d love to win another Willunga.

“It would be a great way to start the season to try to win this race again.

“And for an Aussie it’s the best race to win, it’s easily the best race in Australia. It’s a great one to have on your palmares.

“To see your name on the stairs as you walk into the Hilton, for an Aussie cyclist, it’s quite an achievement.

“Last Sunday’s national road race was hard, but not quite hard enough. For me it was a nice hitout and I think my form is pretty good.”

Porte is one of four Australians on the roster at BMC, which has strengthened its links to the country by unveiling new corporate partner Swisse Wellness yesterday.

The team revealed it would not feature on the jersey but negotiations were on-going as BMC searched for sponsorship beyond 2018.

“I had good sensations last night but we have a strong team here as well so I’m supermotivated and looking forward to kicking the season off proper [today],” Porte said.

“I haven’t spent any time here really, I came here after Christmas, so it will be a bit of a worry for me more than these guys, but having that hitout at nationals, four hours in some sort of heat was the best thing I could do for this race.

“Fingers crossed it’s a little bit cooler down there (Victor Harbour) and just make sure it doesn’t crack you mentally.”