Yesterday’s third place by Richie Porte on stage seven of the Tour of Britain has further reinforced his notion that he is in very good shape, just under two weeks before the start of elite races at the world road race championships.
“I don’t know what happened…I have never run third in a bunch kick before!” he told VeloNation after stage seven, clearly pleased by his placing. “I really got lucky there, but hey… It is great for the morale. There were some pretty big names behind me…it is good.”
Porte sprinted into Colchester behind stage winner Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) and Greg Henderson (Team Sky), but ahead of many quick riders. It continues his fine form this week, with his prominent display seeing him sit second or third for much of the week.
His condition is very encouraging heading towards the worlds, and makes him regret the fact that he wasn’t selected for the road race. Cycling Australia selected its team very early, thus losing out on the scope to see who were the in-form riders as the worlds approached.
“I have got really, really good form,” said Porte. “I am super-excited for the time trial. I think I can shock a few there, or really I hope I can . I can’t wait to get in there and race – it is going to be good fun.
“As regards the road race, you can’t really rule anything out. I am a reserve for that…I think in current form, I can help…I really can. I would love to do the race. But when you look at the list, there is no-one in there that deserves not to be in there. So it is really going to be hard.”
Unless one of the riders drops out through illness or injury, it looks likely that he will be doing the time trial only. If so, he surprisingly hopes that current world champion Fabian Cancellara rides. Even though an in-form Cancellara would be clear favourite to win the TT, he thinks having him there would actually improve his chances of a high finish.
“I think if Fabian does it, it is good for me. Fabian scares other guys off, he is unbeatable,” he explained. “He is such a great athlete. If he does it, it maybe a few guys might sit it out. So I’d prefer if he was there.”
Whatever happens, it’s clear that Porte is a very big talent for the future. He’s in his first year at the ProTour level and has picked up some very strong results. He’ll keep gaining strength as time passes, and should be fighting for even bigger results next year.