Richie Porte: “I really want the podium and I’m going to fight for it”
Richie Porte (BMC) put in a solid time trial performance on the uphill 17km course on stage 18 of the Tour de France to clock the fourth-fastest time and gain time back on his General Classification rivals.
Sitting in sixth place on the General Classification, Porte was one of the last riders to roll down the ramp and clocked the then-fastest time at the first check point. The clock stopped at 31’16” on the finish line, 33 seconds behind eventual stage winner and race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky).
Porte remains in sixth place, but gained significant time on other top ten rivals, to now sit 44 seconds off third place and 1’08” off second place with two mountainous stages to come before the race concludes in Paris.
A trip to the podium concluded stage 18 for Porte, as the recipient of the Bernard Hinault award as the rider with the fastest time on the Côte de Domancy check point.
“It was a hard time trial and I guess time trials are never nice. Now I’ve had a bit of time to look at the time I’ve put into some of the other General Classification contenders so it was a good day.”, said Porte after the stage.
“The goal is now podium so day by day I’m chipping away a little bit more time. I’d have liked to gone a bit quicker today but it was still a good performance. We’ll see how tomorrow goes and then the next day. It’s a great honor to win the Bernard Hinault prize and I think it shows that I’m climbing well. The next two days are full of hard climbs so I’m quite confident and we’ve got a great team and I’m just looking forward to fighting for that podium.”
“Let’s just hope that I can chip away some more time. I really want the podium and I’m going to fight for it. I’m fit and healthy and I hope all of my bad luck is behind me now. We’ll just take it day by day.”
