Tour Down Under: Porte wins stage 2 on Paracombe climb

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Richie Porte (BMC Racing) stomped away from the rest of the Tour Down Under contenders Wednesday on the Paracombe climb, taking the stage 2 win and claiming the overall race lead. The BMC team leader made it look easy as he rode away from the mostly intact peloton that hit the lowers slopes of the final climb for a fourth career Tour Down Under stage win.

Porte finished 16 seconds ahead of Gorka Izagirre (Movistar) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) during the 145.5km stage from Stirling to Paracombe. He now leads Izagirre in the overall by 20 seconds and Chaves by 22.

"It's incredible to wear the jersey in the biggest race in Australia. I would love to win it. There are a few hard days to come but I know today and the work the BMC guys did for me today was absolutely incredible," Porte said after collecting the ochre, points, and KOM jerseys. "I did a lot of training in the off-season for this climb, we made a mess of it two years ago so to come back and make amends like this is just a dream."

Having twice finished runner-up in the race, Porte wouldn't be drawn into stating the race was already won with the likes of Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott) still a dangerous rival despite being 58 seconds in arrears.

"I think for me, it is just to get through the next two days in as good a condition as I can. I am not sure what the time gaps are back to guys like Simon Gerrans but she's not over until it's over," added Porte.

With 2015 Paracombe winner Rohan Dennis crossing the line in fourth place, BMC is well positioned for its second overall win in three years. Izagirre, and Chaves are likely Porte's most dangerous rivals. However, Australian puncheurs Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) will be riders to watch with the numerous intermediate sprint bonus seconds on offer.

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How it unfolded

After the 46 degrees of stage 1, far cooler temperatures of 19 degrees awaited the peloton in Stirling with the hills town hosting the start, rather than finish of stage 2 as it has in previous years. Bahrain-Merida's Ondrej Cink, in his first race as a road rider, and UniSA-Australia's Cam Meyer chanced their luck in an early break on the five circuits of Stirling.

Their attempt came to naught so that when the first intermediate sprint came around, Ben Swift (UAE Abu Dhabi) got the points and bonus seconds ahead of Jay McCarthy. Movistar's Jasha Sütterlin decided to jump off the front shortly after, quickly building a five-minute lead over a peloton that was more than content to let him enjoy some TV time.

There was no contest for the second intermediate sprint point at just under half way into the stage as Sütterlin, the Bora-Hansgrohe duo Michael Kolar and Rudiger Selig mopped up for second and third. World Champion Peter Sagan was happy to show himself at the front of the peloton as riders took a relaxed approach to the circuits, smiling and laughing at regular intervals.

Regular workhorse Damien Howson resumed his place at the head of the peloton towards the end of the fourth lap with Sütterlin's lead dropping to three and a half minutes. Race leader Caleb Ewan was another rider to move forward and assist with the pace making as Sütterlin extended his lead back to four minutes on the fifth and final circuit and in doing so, secured the combativity prize.

The red jerseys of BMC and Lotto Soudal were next to swell towards the front, followed by the lime green of Cannondale-Drapac, with Sütterlin's advantage on the road equal to three kilometres. In the final kilometres of the fifth circuit, Sky joined in at the front of the race, ready to up the power when called upon.

Exciting the circuit, Ian Stannard dropped the hammer for Sky with Sütterlin's advantage halved to just under two minutes.

Having set a new Strava record on Monday up Paracombe, Sütterlin wasn't in position to repeat his 3:13 minute effort as he sat up with 40km to race. Birthday boy and Australian national champion Miles Scotson (BMC) was the first man to blast past as the pace in the peloton saw several riders start to struggle at the rear.

Down Norton Summit, UniSA-Australia's Cam Meyer did a turn of pace with Team Sky and Orica-Scott keeping the former winner in check. BMC's Rohan Dennis suffered a flat on the fast run down Maryvale Road. A double puncture felled Sebastián forcing Sky to send his cousin Sebastián, and Kenny Elissonde to help pace him back through the convoy before the Gorge with Cannondale-Drapac's Paddy Bevin for company.

With the knowledge that one of the pre-race favourites in Henao was struggling to regain contact, Orica-Scott and Movistar drove the pace through the gorge with 10km to race. Ewan and Daryl Impey were the last two men left for Gerrans and Chaves as riders started to pull up stumps as they approached the 5km to go signs.

When the race made the right turn onto the final climb, Sagan briefly lead before pulling off to side. Porte wasted little time launching an attack that only Izagirre could follow. Eventually, the Spaniard lost Porte's pace as well, dropping back to Chaves, who had pulled away from the rest. Porte made it look easy as he crossed the line for the stage win and overall lead, while Izagirre had no trouble beating Chaves to the line 16 seconds later. Dennis led a large group across the line another three seconds back.

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