Porte misses out on podium but happy with Tour Down Under result
Sky captain finishes fourth after queen stage win
Only five seconds made the difference from a repeat podium from the Australian men's National Road Race Championships held earlier in the month in Ballarat where Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge), Cadel Evans (BMC) and Richie Porte (Sky) made it a 1-2-3 finish. This time, Porte would finish fourth in the six-stage race behind Gerrans, Evans and Italy's Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida).
Two-time national champion, Gerrans, held on to a one-second lead over former world champion and Tour de France winner Evans to become the first rider to win the Tour Down Under, now in its 16th year, on three occasions.
In talking about Gerrans' victory in Ballarat, Porte said: "Simon showed he is pretty quick – I mean, he won a bunch sprint here, too. It's always going to be hard to beat him here and he had a great team around him as well."
"I am quite happy with how the week went."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1