BABY OF ALL BATTLES ON WAY AS PORTE STARTS TOUR
AUSTRALIAN cyclist Richie Porte starts the Tour de France this weekend with his second child due mid-race and the host country struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The 35-year-old Tasmanian left his Monaco home on Wednesday ahead of the Tour starting in Nice on Saturday.
Teams will be sent home if two riders or staff show either serious symptoms or test positive to COVID-19.
They will be living in a three-week “bubble”, which includes regular testing and health checks, wearing face masks before and after stages, restrictions on what they can do and where they can go and no interaction with fans — even though punters will be allowed to line the roads as the peloton goes past.
Trek-Segafredo is taking co-leaders into this year’s race with Porte at the helm alongside Bauke Mollema.
“Everyone is in the same boat. They say cycling needs the Tour to happen for the teams. It’s obviously the race that generates the most revenue for the organiser and teams in terms of exposure,” Porte said. “But the pandemic is still there and they’re taking very strict measures to get the race started, but how long it goes is anyone’s guess.”
Porte admitted to having some hesitation about the race going ahead but he feels he owes it to his team, which supported him through the COVID-19 shutdown.
“We’re going places that are in red zones and the numbers of new infections are much higher than Australia, but the French government say it’s safe to race so there’s not much we can do.
“Our team has been good. We were paid through the whole lockdown, which was more than most teams, and Trek were great with me in the run up with training camps and stuff. I had a lot of time at home, so they’ve been good and it’s only reasonable to do the Tour.”
Complicating things for Porte this year is his wife Gemma is due with their second child on September 12.
“We both made a decision that I’d do the Tour (when it was moved),” he said.
“We came to that conclusion and it’s not an easy one and that’s at the back of your mind, whether you’ve got your priorities right, but it is what it is and hopefully the little one can hang in there a bit longer and I might be able to get back in time to take them back from hospital.”