PORTE RIDES BUMPS
Aussie survives scare to be in race for podium finish
RICHIE Porte missed the birth of his daughter for one last crack at the Tour de France and at the age of 35 stands on the brink of becoming just the second Australian in history to finish on the podium.
The Tasmanian was fourth overall going into last night’s sprinter-friendly stage ahead of the decisive individual time trial tonight and procession into Paris on Sunday.
Porte needs to make up 1min 39secs over 36.2km in tonight’s time trial to catch third-placed Miguel Lopez and stand on the podium alongside Primoz Roglic who has all but secured his first yellow jersey.
The Trek-Segafredo leader survived a major scare on Thursday’s Stage 18 when he punctured with 30km to go and had to pace himself back to the peloton, bridging a 45 second gap on gravel roads to remain in the hunt.
“It wasn’t ideal and I was feeling really good on the (climb) which was a hard climb,” he said.
“It’s almost as if it would have been too easy to not have any drama. It was a good day to get done, and I think I already did my time trial it was so hard to come back.
“To survive that and maintain my GC (general classification position) I’m happy to have come away with that one. Now we just have to get through tomorrow.”
Cadel Evans is the only Australian to finish on the podium at the Tour de France when he was runner-up in 2007 and 2008 before finally winning it at the age of 34 in 2011.
Porte’s best ever finish was fifth in 2016 when he was riding for Evans’ old team BMC.
Porte missed the birth of his second child, daughter Eloise, who arrived in the first week of the Tour and has FaceTimed back home twice a day since.
He went into this year’s race as joint leader of TrekSegafredo with Bauke Mollema before Mollema abandoned after a crash on Stage 13, leaving him to take charge.
After years of misfortune including nasty crashes, untimely punctures and even running into the back of a motorbike on course, Porte has appeared to be riding with a weight off his shoulders this year.
He has confirmed this season will be his last with TrekSegafredo and his last at targeting the Tour’s general classification before he finishes his season as a super-domestique and targeting weeklong stage races.
The fan favourite has dominated on Old Willunga Hill in Adelaide the past seven years and is the Tour Down Under’s defending champion but is almost certain to miss January’s race after revealing he plans to stay in Europe this off-season.