Richie Porte

frenchfighter

“I’ve never actually made it to America, so after the Tour, I will just keep rolling. [Clásica] San Sebastián is my favorite one-day race. Then I will take a little break, do Colorado and the Canadian races,” Porte said. “I will finish off the season with worlds, and the Italian classics. I might go to Japan as well. Why not?”

deejay

Pross wrote:

Arguably Froome was never put in a position where Wiggins needed him to sacrifice everything last year as the team as a whole were far stronger.

Froome wheel sucked Wiggins wheel for 90% of the 2012 TDF. That was his job.

emadden wrote:

I boo'd Lance till I was blue in the face at the Tour a few years ago. I felt it was my own personal protest as I was surrounded by slobbering fanbois. Feel a bit vindicated now so I do

Wonder you could go for those few years.
I swore I would never go again in 2002 as I had had enough of dodging motor homes and this new breed of spectators that didn't shout allez, allez.
But I did one more time when they announced a TT up Alpe D'Huez and well I couldn't miss that.
I saw the crowds up there this year and wondered if any had found the underground car park which is free in the summer and the car stays very cool.

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

Porte interview:
http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/ne ... -for-Porte

MartinGT

Poor lad, he is due to have some sort of blood bourne disease next season aint he?

Macaloon

Good read. Straightforward, likable guy with accessible swingers.

I'd forgotten the Stage 9 nuance, that Movi seemed as interested in perma-unhitching Porte as in dropping Froome.

Richmond Racer

Macaloon wrote:

Good read. Straightforward, likable guy with accessible swingers.

I'd forgotten the Stage 9 nuance, that Movi seemed as interested in perma-unhitching Porte as in dropping Froome.

^Hurrumph. Not as but more interested in losing the little Tassie than the Kenyan

RoadPainter

thamacdaddy wrote:

gattocattivo wrote:

There were a couple of times when Porte clearly looked stronger than Froome and he accidentally dropped him while Froome looked grim. What Porte should have done then is ridden two or three bike lengths ahead of Froome while constantly looking back at him and motioning ostentatiously for Froome to get on his wheel. I'm sure Froome would have appreciated the gesture.

I so wanted this too but Porte doesn't have the same ego (an perhaps ruthless drive) as froome seems to have. Someone, either commentators or boardman, mentioned that perhaps today demonstrated to froome what his real job last year was about. It was a mirror of froome dropping wiggo except no team car had to tell Porte to back off and support his leader.
Purely selfless ride today and I would defo say he saved some time loss for froome. I think Quintana and Rodriquez are both going to fight hard for podium now and Porte is going to need o make sure he can carry on helping froome if today wasn't just about missing food and more about having put himself a bit too much into the red the last week.

I said the same on Twitter and got abusive DMs from Michelle Cound in return!!

frenchfighter

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/12/an-of ... hie-porte/

mike6

RichN95 wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

TheBigBean wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

Lots of booing of Porte and Froome up the Alpe this afternoon.

Well, I think that is pretty poor form and I am no Sky fan.

But why? The whole thing is a panto, you have people dressed up as Spiderman etc, if you're not a fan of a rider / team why not show your displeasure? I mean, chewing on some grain and gobbing it on the riders a-la Italy in the 80's is a bit much but surely a bit of cheering / booing is is all part of the show?

I can see your point of view, but I still think it's the act of a knob. Why should they have displeasure? The cyclists are busting their balls for the crowd's entertainment. They don't owe them anything and it's not like the fans have paid for a ticket. It just seems unnecessarily personal and rude to me.

Exactly. Supporting your team or favorite rider should be a positive thing. Yes give your guy every support but why feel you have to boo another rider? A bunch of 5 year olds fair enough but the culprits were aparently adults, In name if nothing else. Cheer all you like but don't boo, they/we are all cyclists.

frenchfighter

Porte is apparently 7 kg lighter. 7. Who loses that amount of weight in a year when you are supposed to be at optimal weight anyway particularly when you are racing for Sky and are Froome's right hand man.

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290, ... sHvtKcW.97

RichN95.

frenchfighter wrote:

Porte is apparently 7 kg lighter. 7. Who loses that amount of weight in a year when you are supposed to be at optimal weight anyway particularly when you are racing for Sky and are Froome's right hand man.

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290, ... sHvtKcW.97

Two points.
1. He says compared to the same time last year. Maybe last year he enjoyed his holidays a little to much and went for a little more moderation this time. Maybe the difference between spending it with a new girlfriend as opposed to 'the lads'.
2. Never believe what a cyclist says about their weight. It's usually exaggerated for reasons of self-assurance.

The_Boy

Yeah, I assume form that that he is planning on doing the Giro? Grafting over the winter to keep a decent base fitness and so on.

joelsim

7kg?

That's half his total weight.

EKIMIKE

The_Boy wrote:

Yeah, I assume form that that he is planning on doing the Giro?

Be interesting to see how this goes.

Porte and Konig are both GC contenders and Konig arguably has a superior track record over 3 weeks. Henao is presumably highly motivated after last year too and has a claim with his Giro top 10 in 2012.

Will Froome demand that Porte is kept fresh for the Tour or does the promise of Giro leadership for Porte carry over from last year? What was promised to Konig when he signed on?

Questions. Questions.

The_Boy

EKIMIKE wrote:

The_Boy wrote:

Yeah, I assume form that that he is planning on doing the Giro?

What was promised to Konig when he signed on?

Based on nothing at all, I get the impression that the deal on offer from Sky is domestique and work your way up to team leader in smaller grand tours. Konig is the newbie so I expect will be behind Henao and Porte in the pecking order (assuming the former are fit and healthy).

joelsim

Roche and Porte for Paris Nice and Tirreno. Porte for Giro, Konig for Tour as domestique for Froome, and Konig and Nieve for Vuelta as joint leaders.