Thomas impressed by ‘flying’ Porte
LONGWY,France: TourdeFrance leader Geraint Thomas admitted on Monday he’d been impressed by Australian contender Richie Porte’s early race form.
Although currently wearing the yellow jersey, Thomas is riding the Tour in support of reigning champion and his Sky team leader Chris Froome, a job Porte once did before moving to BMC 18 months ago.
And while the overall contenders weren’t expected to be able to make any time gains on Monday, Porte showed he was in good form by making an acceleration on the final 1.6km climb to the finish that took many by surprise, Thomas included.
“I didn’t really expect him to attack, I thought it would be more (Greg) Van Avermaet from his team, guys like that,” said Thomas.
Porte himself admitted the attack hadn’t been premeditated but said it was “good for confidence to have a bit of a crack there”.
Thomas added: “It shows he’s going to be aggressive, he’s certainly going really well and is certainly one of the biggest threats.
“We saw in the (Criterium du) Dauphine and from the beginning (of the season) he’s flying.
“I said from the beginning he’s the main man and he reinforced that today.”
Thomas was riding high in fourth overall two years ago until a disastrous penultimate mountain stage saw him slip down and eventually finish 15th, which he repeated last year too.
But he earnt the right within Sky to lead the team at May’s Giro d’Italia, although a crash ended his hopes there and he pulled out.
Still, the 31-year- old Welshman is ambitious and dreams of leading the team one day, even if it isn’t at the Tour.
“I’d love that for sure, it was my chance in the Giro really to test those waters,” he said.
“It’s something I’d love to give a good go, whether that’s the Tour, the Giro or the Vuelta (a Espana). Maybe I’ll go back to the Giro next year and give it another shot.
“This is a dream come true to wear the ( yellow) jersey, but it would be even better to target one (a Grand Tour leader’s jersey) and wear it in the third week.” — AFP