Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) has abandoned the Giro d'Italia after falling ill ahead of Friday's stage 19. The Australian started the day in Marano Lagunare, but was forced retire early on in the race.

He was dropped from the bunch on the first climb of the day, the third-category Villanova Grotte, after just 70km of racing. Ahead of three further categorised climbs on stage 19, it was not looking good for Porte. Bora-Hansgrohe were pulling on the front when Porte was dropped off the back of the peloton, which they continued to do once he had been distanced.

He was expected to be a key domestique for Richard Carapaz in the final two road stages of the race, as the Ineos rider leads the general classification by just three seconds ahead of Jai Hindley. It leaves Ineos with seven riders left in the race, while their rivals Bora-Hansgrohe currently still have their full complement of eight.

The news was confirmed by the Giro's broadcaster, and later by the British team themselves. "We can confirm Richie Porte has abandoned the Giro d'Italia during stage 19 due to sickness," they tweeted.

Bradley Wiggins, who is reporting from within the race on a motorbike for Eurosport-GCN, told viewers that he had seen Porte throwing up while riding, adding that Porte shouted "gastro" to him, suggesting that he was suffering from a stomach illness.

This Giro was expected to be Porte's final Grand Tour of his long career, as he is retiring at the end of the season. He has raced 17 in total, and finished 3rd at the 2020 Tour de France while riding for Trek-Segrafredo.

Since his return to Ineos Grenadiers, the Australian has been employed as a luxury helper for the team's GC riders. This was season in this Giro, as Porte was visible pacing Carapaz on the climbs, including on Thursday's stage 19.

Porte had been in impressive form on the run into the Giro, finishing fourth at Tirreno-Adriatico and seventh at the Tour of the Alps. It was thought that he could be a useful backup option for his team at the Italian Grand Tour, but dropped out of GC contention quite early on.

Carpaz will now be forced to rely on his six remaining teammates in the mountain-heavy stages 19 and 20. Porte's withdrawal could end up having a massive impact on the whole race, which is still yet to be decided.

Richie Porte has confirmed he won't ride the Tour de France in his final year as a professional, claiming he didn't enjoy the 2021 edition of the event due to the increased pressure he felt. 

An experienced support rider who helped Chris Froome to four Tour de France titles, Porte managed a career-best third finish in the same race in 2020. He has also competed in every Tour since 2011.

However, following the conclusion of the race last July he signalled his intention to step away in his final year of riding, citing a lack of enjoyment last year as a motivating factor to miss the race he has become synonymous with. 

Porte told The Age: “I didn’t enjoy my Tour last year and to be quite fair it’s not the race where you want people that aren’t enjoying themselves. I just want to try and enjoy my last year, which the team are totally good with."

For Porte, finishing third in 2020 achieved a monumental ambition of his to podium at the Tour, and upon his return to Ineos Grenadiers at the start of 2021 he had the personal aim of competing as a support rider again.

However, his Critérium du Dauphiné win a couple of weeks before saw him touted as one of the team's leaders alongside Geraint Thomas, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Richard Carapaz. He attributes the heightened pressure he felt to his subsequent lack of enjoyment in the race.

He continued: "Tadej Pogačar is a massive favourite, but then we had four guys, myself included, who probably could have really done something in the race, but I didn’t enjoy having that pressure, then not having the support either.

“I also got what I wanted out of the Tour in 2020 when I podiumed. 

“That was something I was always striving for and then to finally get it, I don’t feel like I have that much business with the Tour. Yeah, sure I would have loved to have won an individual stage, but I can retire happy having not done that. It’s something I would have loved to have done, but it didn’t happen.”

Instead, Porte confirmed he will compete at the Giro d'Italia in his final year. 

The 37-year-old has appeared three times before at the Giro, with the 2010 version the first Grand Tour he competed in. He finished seventh in the general classification that year, and claims Ineos Grenadiers encouraged him to return to where it started for him in May. 

"The team guided me that way,"  "I remember having that conversation with [deputy team principal] Rod [Ellingworth] last year at the Tour of Britain, and he said, ‘Yeah that would be pretty cool if you’d be happy to go there.’ And the Giro was my first Grand Tour.

“My big aim is to try and enjoy it. As stressful as the job is and high pressure, I know it’s been a pretty incredible way to earn a living and see the world. Living on the other side of the world has got its challenges, but it’s also a pretty cool thing to have done. It’ll be nice to enjoy that last European year."

Riding the Giro d'Italia one more time would be a "dream", Richie Porte has said, ahead of his final season as a professional cyclist.

The Tasmanian has one more year on his contract with Ineos Grenadiers, but still has ambitions for 2022, with a programme that will probably include racing Tirreno-Adriatico and then the Giro d'Italia.

Porte opened his grand tour account with the Giro in 2010, where he finished seventh overall and won the youth classification. This remains his third-best finish at a three-week long race, only bettered by fifth and third at the Tour de France in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

It is at week-long stage races, however, that he has been the most succesful over the last decade, with last year's Critérium du Dauphiné victory the latest. He has also won two editions of Paris-Nice, the Tour de Suisse, the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour de Romandie. Victory at Tirreno-Adriatico in March would complete the set. 

To start off with, however, he wants to have fun, and Ineos Grenadiers agree. "The one thing the team really wants out of it is for me to enjoy my last year. It's also my plan," Porte told Australian journalist Roger Vaughan in an interview for 7news.com.au.

"It's been a brilliant ride, but one more go at it. I'd like to be competitive still, otherwise, it's wasting our time as a family."

On the possibility of targeting the Giro once more, Porte said: "If I can close the circle there, that would be a dream. It's a race I've always enjoyed."

Although he is unlikely to be the team's leader at the Italian race, he still wants to be competitive and prove his worth to the team. In his career he has raced in support of Chris Froome and Alberto Contador and alongside greats like Vincenzo Nibali.

"It's nice to still be at the pointy end of bike races at 36 against these young kids who are so incredibly talented," he said.

"When you're watching the Tour in 10 years time, I can tell my son and daughter 'I rode with those guys'."

The Australian might return to the Antipodes after the conclusion of his professional career, but still harbours hopes of staying involved in the sport.

"If there's a good, young talent, maybe I can help them to make that step to Europe with the contacts I've made. Help the kids who have slipped through the cracks of institutes - that's probably the role I'd like to play in cycling."

Richie Porte says this year's edition of the Tour de France was his last.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider finished his 11th appearance at the race, riding as a domestique for Richard Carapaz having targetted the general classification in 2020 when he finished third overall.

Porte had been touted as one of the team's leaders alongside Geraint Thomas, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Carapaz, having displayed strong form heading into the Tour as he won the Critérium du Dauphiné just a couple of weeks before.

Crashes put paid to any chance of Porte contesting high up in the GC however, with a chaotic stage one seeing him lose 2-16 to the day's winner Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step).

The 36-year-old said however that it was "almost nice" to ride the race without the "stress and pressure" of competing for an overall placing. Porte said that he felt like he'd accomplished what he needed to at the Tour with his third-place finish behind winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and runner-up Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) in last year's edition.

“Definitely it’s the last [Tour] I’ll do,” Porte told the Herald Sun.

“I think I ticked the box last year with a podium finish, I’m not getting any younger and the race is only getting more and more crazy, so I feel like it’s time to pull the pin on my Tour career. It’s been a nice run, but it’s time.

“I’d say compared to last year when I rode for the general classification at the Tour for myself, it’s a much different scenario.

“Without all that stress and pressure every day, it’s been almost nice if you’re not needed you can get out of the chaos of the bunch sprints and do a job on a climb earlier and then not have to contest the final."

After helping Richard Carapaz to a third-place finish at this year's Tour, Porte now turns his attention to the 234km Olympic Games road race in Tokyo on Saturday, where he'll lead the four-man Australian team which includes Rohan Dennis, Luke Durbridge, and Lucas Hamilton. Cameron Meyer and Jack Haig were originally named in the team, but both have been forced to pull out; Meyer for personal reasons and Haig following a crash at the Tour.

Porte will also race the 44.2km time trial next Wednesday, though his team-mate Dennis will be the nation's best hope for a gold in the event.

He will hope for better luck than he had in Rio 2016 on the Tokyo road race course, which, with over 4000m of climbing should suit his strengths. Porte crashed out of the road race five years and broke his shoulder, having been one of the pre-race favourites.

“It does feel like a lifetime ago,” Porte told News Corp.

“It wasn’t the nicest Olympic experience obviously ending up in a hospital in Rio, so it would be nice to go these Games, albeit a strange Games for everybody, and have a bit better Olympic experience.

“It’s always nice to represent the country and something I get excited for, it’s a big motivation for sure.”

The Olympic Games men's road race takes place on July 24.

Richie Porte says winning the Critérium du Dauphiné “feels like a Tour de France victory”, elated after holding on to yellow during a difficult final day in the mountains to close out the stage race.

“Paris-Nice has always been a sweet one to me because it’s my adopted home but for me this is the race I’ve been so close to winning so many times, second a couple of times, and to finally finish it off with this team is a dream come true,” Porte said after the finish of where this win ranks on his palmarès.

The only real moment it looked precarious was in the closing kilometres after Geraint Thomas slid out on the descent of the final climb, the Welshman making it back on after Porte had been momentarily isolated, but the Tasmanian says he feels he could have counted on compatriots Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) and Ben O’Connor (Ag2r Citroën) if he’d needed assistance.

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“We had a couple of Australians there,” Porte said of the moments after Thomas had crashed and was forced to chase back. “Jack was always going to help me out and Ben closed the gap to a couple of those guys on the descent, but full credit to G because coming into this race he said he was all in for me, come July I’ll be hopefully returning the favour for him, helping to win the Tour.”

The victory rarely seemed in doubt, given Ineos’ strength in depth, with Thoma placing on the podium and Tao Geoghegan Hart also sneaking into the top 10 on the final day, the British squad will hope this form transfers over to the main event in a few weeks.

“There were certain times there where you were waiting for attacks but we have so much talent in depth it does make it a lot easier,” Porte explained, and will surely be hoping the same is true when they come up against the likes of Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar next month.

“I mean, even the last 400m it’s rare that you can let it sink in and just enjoy, it’s just brilliant, I’ve always wanted to win this race, the second Aussie to do it and I’m over the moon.”

As for the hard work to come before the start in Britanny at the end of June, Porte says it’s nothing compared to the demands of being a father of two young children, his latest being born during last year’s French Grand Tour: “I’ve got two kids under three at home, nothing’s hard compared to that,” he joked.

“No, I’m under no illusions that I’m here [at Ineos] to help out and I think the way that Tao and G and those guys helped me I would love to repay them,” Porte added of winning the Dauphiné ahead of his leader at the upcoming Tour. “I don’t need that stress and pressure, I don’t know how they do it. For me, this feels like a Tour de France victory.”

Richie Porte has finished runner-up twice at the Critérium du Dauphiné, four years ago in 2017 and four years before that in 2013. Now, in 2021, he has a very good chance to finally seal the overall victory, but the memory of losing the 2017 race to Jakob Fuglsang still lingers in the memory.

"I've been here before on the penultimate stage in the yellow jersey, I'm under no illusions that it's going to be easy tomorrow," Porte said after finishing second on stage seven and taking the race lead.

"I mean I didn't feel that super to be honest and more thought that maybe G was going to springboard over and I'd give myself for him, but when Mas wouldn't co-operate I understood, he's done that to me before. At the end of the day it's all tactics it's going to be a big battle tomorrow and I'd love to finish it off."

Porte says the differences between now and four years ago couldn't be starker, and that tomorrow he'll have team-mates, including Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart to support him.

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"It's chalk and cheese," the Tasmanian said of the comparison between riding for Ineos in 2021 and BMC in 2017. "I had really no team-mates to support me then, only Kilian Frankiny and he was a neo-pro.

"We [Ineos] have a really strong team here, it's really great to be back. I really enjoyed my last years but I do feel like I'm home here, and we have a super strong team here to win this bike race."

Porte arrived at Ineos with the expectation of playing a support role to the team's many stars in the twilight of his career but is more than happy to take this opportunity before turning his attention to going all-in for Geraint Thomas at the upcoming Tour de France.

"I guess if I turn up in form and if I have the legs and can still have the opportunity [to win]," Porte explained. "The plan this morning was if I was able to attack [then he would], which I don't get so much but I'd love to win this race and go into the Tour and it'll all be for G." 

The Critérium du Dauphiné is always a big objective for Ineos Grenadiers with the team always sending a strong line-up, and 2021 is no different.

As a main build-up race for the Tour de France, the British-registered team are sending most of their big leaders who aren't in Italy at the Giro d'Italia.

However, they will not be facing their main rivals of Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), with Roglič riding an altitude training camp and Pogačar heading to his homeland to race the Tour of Slovenia.

>>> Five things to look out for at the Critérium du Dauphiné 2021

This means Ineos come in as the big favourites with Geraint Thomas likely being the main leader ahead of Richie Porte.

Thomas has made it clear that he wants to win the Tour again and feels like he is in the best position to do that this year after winning the Tour de Romandie three weeks ago, as well as solid early-season showings at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya.

Porte comes into the Dauphiné with Ineos off the back of his third place at the Tour in 2020, he will want to continue his solid form with Ineos and maybe be right up in the GC again.

The rest of the team is also super strong with 2020 Giro d'Italia winner, Tao Geoghegan Hart being one of the riders who are likely to be returning to the domestique role but we may see himself getting his own chance.

Former world champion, Michał Kwiatkowski is also down to ride and will be a vital rider for all-terrain as he is likely to, yet again, ride himself into the ground for his leaders. Andrey Amador will play a similar role, perhaps concentrating on the flatter roads and the earlier parts of the climbs.

Again, another vital support rider is Dylan van Baarle - the winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen 2021 has shown excellent form in the Dauphiné in the past, taking a stage win on the final stage a few years ago. 

Finally, the very exciting Spanish climber Carlos Rodríguez will be a key rider on the mountain train. The 20-year-old has already shown how strong he is when the road goes skywards at the Tour de la Provence where he did some amazing work for Egan Bernal and eventual winner Iván Sosa on Mont Ventoux.

The Dauphiné starts on Sunday, May 30, which overlaps with the final stage of the Giro d'Italia, and takes place over eight days with various mountain stages as well as a time trial and hilly stages, plus one day for the sprinters.

Ineos Grenadiers team for Critérium du Dauphiné 2021

Geraint Thomas (GBr)
Richie Porte (Aus)
Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr)
Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol)
Andrey Amador (CRi)
Dylan van Baarle (Ned)
Carlos Rodríguez (Esp)

Richie Porte has been confirmed as the leader of the Australian men’s team at the Tokyo Olympics, with Amanda Spratt and Rohan Dennis also headlining the team. 

Porte, podium finisher in the 2020 Tour de France, will headline the men’s squad for the Olympic road race, while one-day specialist Amanda Spratt will lead the women’s team.

Time trial star Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers) will also ride in both the road race and will compete for TT gold in Tokyo. 

But with the coronavirus pandemic still raging in Japan, fears are growing that the event could be cancelled after initially being delayed last year. 

Porte, who has returned to Ineos Grenadiers this season, told The Guardian: “We can aim to be up there for the podium ... It would be a dream for anyone to medal at the Olympics. Obviously that’s the big goal but I think it’s just going to be an absolute miracle that these games are going to go ahead.”

The Tokyo Olympics are still scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8, but there is growing uncertainty about the delayed event. 

A recent poll found that more than 80 per cent of Japanese people oppose hosting the games taking place this year, while the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association has called for the event to be cancelled, saying hospitals are already overwhelmed with coronavirus cases.  

Porte will be hoping for redemption if the Olympics go ahead, after going into the 2016 games in Rio as one of the pre-race favourites, before he crashed out with a broken shoulder.

The men’s road race will suit a climber and Grand Tour rider like Porte, as the course covers 244km of hills around Mount Fuji, with a total elevation gain of 4,865 metres. 

Spratt (Team BikeExchange) has been a major contender in one-day races in recent seasons and has now stepped up her leadership responsibilities after Annemiek van Vleuten left the team for Movistar.

The 33-year-old, a multiple podium finisher in the World Championship road race, will be surrounded by a strong team during the 147km women’s race, including her team-mate Grace Brown and rising star Sarah Gigante  (Tibco-SVB), who will also compete in the TT. 

Spratt said: “It’s such an honour to be selected for my third Olympic Games. That's been over a 10-year period, as well, it's something I've never complacent about. I'm really looking forward to being able to use what I've learned from those and really go there and performing Tokyo with a great team.”

Australian road cycling squad for Tokyo Olympics 

Women

Amanda Spratt 
Grace Brown
Tiffany Cromwell
Sarah Gigante (time trial)

Men

Richie Porte
Jack Haig
Cameron Meyer 
Rohan Dennis (time trial) 

Ineos Grenadiers have sent an exceptionally strong team to the Tour de Romandie 2021 as their riders build towards the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.

Geraint Thomas is set to be the leader as he continues to focus on another push at Tour de France glory after missing out on the team selection last year. Thomas has shown some very good early season form with solid performances at Tirreno-Adriatico as well as a podium behind team-mate Adam Yates at Volta a Catalunya.

But Thomas isn't the only possible overall focus for the British super-team as third place at the 2020 Tour de France, Richie Porte is back on the bike and racing as he too looks towards the Tour but in more of a support role for Thomas and Richard Carapaz.

>>> Five things to look out for at the Tour of Romandie 2021

The race should suit Thomas and Porte with plenty of climbing and two time trials that book-end the race. The time trials are likely to suit superstar time trialists too and Ineos have a couple of pretty decent ones.

World time trial champion Filippo Ganna returns for the first time since his undefeated streak in time trials was ended by both Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) at Tirreno. With two hilly time trials on the menu, will Ganna get his winning feeling back?

Another rider who is likely to be right up in the top places against the clock is former world champion Rohan Dennis who comes into the race after winning the time trial at the Volta a Catalunya before the team went on to completely dominate the overall standings.

Dennis will hope he can break his duck against his main rival as well as good friend, Ganna but they will have Küng as well as Paris-Nice time trial winner Stefan Bissegger (EF-Nippo) to go up against.

The main support for the team's leaders is likely to come from Irishman Eddie Dunbar, who comes into the race after a solid display in the Ardennes Classics as well as trusty duper-domestique Andrey Amador.

Completing the line-up is Welsh rider Owain Doull. He is likely going to be helping his leaders with positioning but could potentially have a go in the sprints. He would come up against very tough opposition though with Elia Viviani (Cofidis), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe and Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) being on the start line.

The Tour de Romandie starts later today (April 27) with a four-kilometre prologue around the town of Oron that finishes up an 800-metre climb that averages at around eight per cent gradient.

Ineos Grenadiers line-up for Tour de Romandie 2021

Geraint Thomas (GBr)

Richie Porte (Aus)

Filippo Ganna (Ita)

Rohan Dennis (Aus)

Andrey Amador (CRi)

Eddie Dunbar (Irl)

Owain Doull (GBr)

It wasn't the return to Dave Brailsford's squad that Richie Porte would have been dreaming about, as the 36-year-old crashed out of Paris-Nice on stage one.

It's not quite a full-fledged nightmare, though, as the Tasmanian suffered no fractures in the fall. After being assessed back at the Ineos Grenadiers' hotel, Porte was taken to hospital for scans, with no fractures to his lower back or pelvis found.

Porte fell with 35km remaining of the first stage, his debut race back with the team he left in 2015 before returning this season.

Team-mate Ben Swift revealed after the stage that a discarded bottle had gone under George Bennett's (Jumbo-Visma) wheel, causing him to swerve into Porte's path and send him tumbling to the deck.

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Porte got back up and remounted, before climbing off and going to the medical car, grimacing from the fall.

Refusing to quit, he then clipped in once more and rode the next 20km alone before abandoning, just as the peloton had entered the final 10km of the race.

"We start a man down at Paris-Nice today, but thankfully we can confirm Richie Porte suffered no fractures in his crash yesterday. He'll now head home, heal up and get ready to go again," Ineos said before the start of stage two.

"Nothing broken but I'm out of Paris-Nice unfortunately," Porte said. "Thanks for all the messages. Feeling beat up and sore but can't thank the team enough for getting around me."

Porte is on the shortlist to ride this summer's Tour de France for Ineos, but his schedule up to the French Grand Tour is currently unknown.

Tao Geoghegan Hart will now take over full leadership at Paris-Nice, Porte and Geoghegan Hart having been the squad's two protected riders for the stage race, with the first GC test set for Wednesday's stage four to Chiroubles.

Richie Porte has abandoned Paris-Nice following a crash in his debut race for Ineos Grenadiers.

Porte was brought down in the final 35km of the 165km first stage in a crash that also held up Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) and Connor Swift (Arkéa-Samsic). The Australian gingerly got back up and remounted before then getting off his bike again and going to the race medics.

Leaning over the bonnet of the medical car, Porte was grimacing in pain from his injuries, and with team-mate Rohan Dennis having left him behind to chase back to the peloton, things were not looking hopeful for the Tasmanian.

Porte did get back on his bike, however, slowly setting off to try and complete the final 30km of the stage, his GC hopes now shot.

With the TV cameras having left him behind, news filtered through that Porte had abandoned as the peloton entered the final 10km of the race.

Ineos Grenadiers will now focus on Giro d'Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart for the Paris-Nice GC.

"Beyond gutted for Richie Porte. He's sadly forced to abandon Paris-Nice in the closing stages of day one. We'll have an update later," Ineos Grenadiers said.

Speaking after the finish, Ben Swift explained that George Bennett had hit a discarded bidon, then veering into Porte's path.

"As we were getting ready to move up someone dropped a bottle," Ben Swift said. "George Bennett hit it, veered left into Richie and took his front wheel.

"I didn't know whether he'd get back up [to the peloton] or not because we were moving pretty quickly at that point...it was all pretty chaotic."

While the world is unrecognisable compared to this time last year, some semblance of normality has returned as Richie Porte won atop Willunga Hill on the third stage of the Santos Festival of Cycling.

The re-imagined, scaled-down Tour Down Under, saw the peloton set off from McLaren Vale for an 88.2km route, taking in two laps around Willunga before the summit finish climb.

Riding for Garmin-Australia during the four-day race, Porte accelerated up Willunga Hill after the breakaway had been pulled back, and looked to be riding away from the rest until his 20-year-old team-mate, Luke Plapp, rode onto his wheel.

Porte eventually crossed the line first, Plapp applauding him, with Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange) third on the stage and cementing his overall lead.

"The rider of the day was easily Plappy," Porte said after the finish, "he could have easily come around me but he didn't".

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Meanwhile, Sarah Gigante attacked twice on Willunga Hill in the women's race, finishing a minute ahead of Lucy Kennedy, extending her lead over her in the general classification to 3-11.

Gigante's effort was enough to see her smash the Strava QOM by 1-10, setting a new best time of 8-13 with an average speed of 21.9km/h up the climb, while Porte's 6-34 from last year's Tour Down Under still holds the KOM.

This was Porte's seventh victory up Willunga Hill, with Lotto-Soudal's Matthew Holmes having beaten the Tasmanian on the final stage six of the 2020 Tour Down Under, with Porte going on to claim only his second overall victory at his home stage race.

The fourth and final stage of the Santos Festival of Cycling will be an hour-long criterium in Adelaide's Victoria Park, with both Durbridge and Gigante expected to hold their leads in the general classification and claim the overall victory.

The Santos Festival of Cycling 2021 is a unique opportunity for Australian pros to compete in a domestic stage race - here’s how you can live stream this year’s event. 

While the 2021 Tour Down Under, the traditional start of the WorldTour calendar, is cancelled there is still an opportunity for Australians to compete in a four-stage race this January, with both men’s and women’s editions being held.

Running from January 21-24, the Santos Festival of Cycling will not be held as a UCI event but will still attract some of the biggest Australian cycling talent.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, the race is only open to local teams and riders. 

This year, Team BikeExchange will be fielding strong contenders from their line-up of home riders, including Lucy Kennedy and Sarah Roy in the women’s team, and the likes of Cameron Meyer, Luke Durbridge and Lucas Hamilton in the men’s.

But by far the biggest star competing in this one-off edition of the race is Ineos Grenadiers rider Richie Porte, who will temporarily be joining Team Garmin-Australia to compete at home. 

The race, centred around the city of Adelaide in South Australia, will feature the famous Willunga Hill climb on stage three and a criterium around Victoria Park on the final day of racing.  

How to live stream the Santos Festival of Cycling in the UK, Europe or the US

Unfortunately the Santos Festival of Cycling is not being aired on TV outside of Australia, so cycling fans in the UK and Europe won’t be able to watch the racing from their favourite home broadcasters like Eurosport, GCN or ITV, or FloBikes in the US.  

If you live outside of Australia and will want to watch the racing, a VPN will let you access coverage from outside your broadcast area. 

Downloading and installing a VPN allows you to trick your computer into thinking it’s elsewhere in the world. This allows you to watch your chosen broadcaster coverage without having to resort to an illegal steam, as long as you stick to the terms and conditions set out by the broadcaster.

Setting up a VPN is simple – just download, install, open the app and select your location.

Try out ExpressVPN  for its speed, security and simplicity to use. We also like that it’s compatible with so many devices and streaming services (e.g. Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, etc).

There are other great options out there of course, but Express VPN gives you the added benefit of a 30-day money back guarantee and three months free with a yearly plan. 

How to watch the Santos Festival of Cycling in Australia

The Santos Festival of Cycling will be broadcast on Australian streaming service 7Plus, with Anna Meares, Matt Keenan and Robbie McEwan joining the coverage.  

The women’s race will be broadcast first, followed by the men’s event shortly after each day.

Coverage will start at around 9am each day, aside from the final stage criterium which will take place in the evening. 

Full Santos Festival of Cycling TV guide on 7Plus (Adelaide Central Standard Time)

Thursday, January 21

Stage one - Sepplesfield to Tanunda 

Women’s: 8.50am to midday 

Men’s: 1.05pm to 5pm 

Friday, January 22

Stage two - Birdwood to Lobethal 

Women’s: 8.50am to 12.15pm 

Men’s: 1.05pm - 5pm 

Saturday, January 23

Stage three - McLaren Vale to Willunga 

Women’s 9.50am - 11.50am 

Men’s: 12.50pm - 4pm 

Sunday, January 24

Stage four - Victoria Park 

Paracycling: 3.10pm-3.40pm 

Women’s: 6.45pm - 8.30pm 

Men’s: 1.05pm - 5pm  

Richie Porte is "over the moon" to finally be on the podium in Paris at what is his 10th Tour de France.

The Australian rider leapfrogged Astana's Miguel Ángel López to take the third spot in the general classification, and says this accomplishment feels like a victory.

"It's an absolute dream. I mean, I grew up watching the Tour de France on the other side of the world, and seeing guys like Robbie McEwen, Cadel Evans, Brad McGee, all these guys..to finally crack the podium here is an absolutely incredible feeling," Porte said at his post-stage press conference.

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"It's probably going to take a little while to sink in...but it's been a journey. I think most of you know the battles that I've had and everything, the drama along the way, but this feels really like a victory for me, I'm just over the moon to finally be on the podium at the Tour de France."

The Trek-Segafredo rider knew coming into the time trial that he had a good chance of taking the podium, that he could have enough to beat López and that he would likely put in a stronger performance than Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren) as well.

"I kind of knew that in a time trial, maybe I should be able to beat them," Porte said. "But there's always going to be those lingering doubts in the back of your mind...once I started getting time checks and they were saying with 3km to go 'Richie, you're going to get your dream'. That was such a sweet moment."

Porte's achievement was made even more special by the fact he missed the birth of his daughter during the race, something that has clearly been on the Australian's mind ever since.

"When my son was born two years ago, it was probably harder to be honest because I had two nights with him and then I had to leave," Porte admitted. "Once once the whole Coronavirus thing kicked off, and then the Tour was rescheduled, I guess that's just me, isn't it. The luck I have, I was going to miss the birth," he joked.

"But my wife Gemma said to me go to the Tour, do your thing, she had a plan. The only thing she said to me was 'if I turn the television on and you're on the back of the peloton, then I'll be pissed'.

"It was one of those things, the teams gave me the option that I could leave, which is, you know, that's incredible to do that, they're a very human team.

"You know nothing [else apart from his family] really matters. This is a game to be honest. So to miss the birth, [the podium] has kind of gone a little bit of the way to making this worthwhile."

Porte was self-deprecating throughout the press conference, often referencing the poor luck he's had in past editions of the Tour de France since leaving Team Sky in 2015 to become a Grand Tour contender in his own right. Finally, he has his reward.

"I came here in great shape. So I haven't really felt the fatigue. The team never really put that much stress on me either. Every day has been full gas," Porte explained.

"To be honest, I take my hat off to Roglič, it's kind of brutal what happened to him today. I think that Jumbo-Visma really rode an incredible race and probably did deserve to win it, but it's nothing against Pogačar because he's a huge talent.

"I guess in some respects, he was lucky that Jumbo-Visma set such a cracking pace on the climbs and if you were able to hold the wheel of those guys then you kind of got a bit of a free ride.

"But [Pogačar] has got balls the way he went about it on the Peyresourde, he lost time on the crosswind stage and then took a lot back, chapeau the way he raced so aggressively.

"I don't see it being like that next year, he's going to be a bit of a marked man with the talent that he's got...the sky's the limit for Pogačar."

If Pogačar isn't able to defend his title next year, just as the young talent Egan Bernal (Ineos) wasn't able to at this race, Porte will be an example to show if you just keep plugging away, eventually things can fall your way.

Richie Porte said he was bitterly disappointed with stage seven of the Tour de France, but there was an even bigger hurt away from the race for the Australian. 

While racing in the crosswinds from Millau to Lavuar, Porte missed the birth of his second child, a daughter, which he said “hurts more than words can express.” 

Trek-Segafredo rider Porte, who lost more than a minute to the favourites on stage seven, said: “While yesterday was bitterly disappointing on the bike, my wife Gemma and I had this little bundle of joy arrive. 

"Hurts more than words can express to miss the birth of your child, but thank you Trek-Segafredo for being so supportive. 

“Will be a long and tough race mentally now but the biggest gift awaits after Paris.” 

Porte suffered a rough day on stage seven as Ineos Grenadiers forced splits in the wind later in the stage to distance GC rivals. 

The tactic worked as Porte, Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) found themselves trailing off the back of the front group.

Ineos rider Richard Carapaz also fell victim to his team’s tactics, as he suffered a punctured and lost time. 

By the finish, the Porte group had fallen 1-21 behind the favourites and the 35-year-old has now fallen back five places overall to 20th place.

The Australian is still chasing Tour de France victory after years of bad luck.

After finishing fifth in the 2016 Tour, Porte crashed out of the 2017 and 2018 Tours on stage nine on both occasions. 

Last season he made it through the race with no major incidents but was never quite on the same level as past seasons, moving up to 10th place in the final week before settling for 11th place by the time the race reached Paris.  

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Porte has two children, after the birth of his son Luca in 2018. 

Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) took victory in dominant fashion up on the lunar landscape of Mont Ventoux with a very impressive ride from Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) in second place and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) in third, at the 2020 edition of the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge 2020.

After an excellent display in the Route d'Occitanie a week before this race, where he finished only behind two Ineos riders of Egan Bernal and Pavel Sivakov, he was one of the big favourites to take the day and he did just that.

The peloton caught the last of the break just as they started the final ascent which saw multiple attacks from riders, with some sticking for a long period, but it was the Russian champion, Vlasov, who set off on a stinging move to bridge the gap and then kick on to victory.

Behind, big names who were out of form battled for the minor places, with Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Miguel Ángel López (Astana) and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) battling it out.

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How it happened

The riders started in Vaison-la-Romaine and after 179km they finish at the top of Mont Ventoux, but it is not the usual ascent, they ride up a different side that takes us up to Chalet Reynard but from another angle.

The original break was made up of eight riders including Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Carmelo Urbano (Caja Rural), Jose Gonçalves (Nippo Delko One Provence), Juan Felipe Osorio (Burgos-BH), Alessandro Monaco (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane), Garikoitz Bravo (Fundacion Ciclista Euskadi), Marlon Gaillard (Total Direct Energie) and Robert Scott (Canyon DHB p/b Soreen).

The break broke down over the first passage up to Chalet Reynard with Bravo going solo, but his time gap was being edged away as the kilometres ticked down thanks to Astana, Arkéa-Samsic and Cofidis as they got closer to the mountain.

Bravo had just 30 seconds at the base of the final climb as the race was very nicely set up for possible early attacks, with the lone leader caught with 17km to go.

Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural) and Simone Petilli (Circus-Wanty Gobert) set off on the attack with 15km to go and pulled out a decent gap early on but was controlled by the peloton. The Caja Rural rider then went pop and dropped back to the group with Petilli still out in front, but it wasn't long before he was also brought back and dropped.

Edward Ravasi (UAE Team Emirates) was the next man to kick out with Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) trying to follow and he slowly bridged over with 10km to go. Ravasi was there to support Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) but the Italian was dropped by Latour.

One of the biggest surprises was that López was dropped out of the back, he did make it back but Astana were fully focused on Russian champion, Vlasov instead as Trek took over pacing with 8km to go.

At 7km to go, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) took off with a vicious acceleration, looking very impressive as he looked to bridge the now 12-second gap to Latour, which he did with ease.

Behind, Aru tried a move with Harold Tejada (Astana) going with him but Trek continued setting the pace for Richie Porte and they were brought back with 6.5km to go.

Martin hit Latour with attack after attack which pushed the AG2R rider to his limit and was dropped by his compatriot. He pulled out gap of 20 seconds and looked very cool and collected as he continued on up the mountain.

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With 4.5km to go, Astana's main man, Vlasov attacked and sailed straight across to a struggling Latour. Behind, Porte and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) pushed across as Vlasov dropped Latour who was now going backwards.

But then, Porte dropped the pre-race favourite, Quintana, who is still recovering from being hit by a car in Colombia.

Vlasov breezed up to Martin and went straight past the Frenchman but then they started looking at each other, which almost allowed Porte back up to them before Vlasov attacked again. Martin managed to hold on for a few more moments but then lost touch with 3km to go.

It was the young Russian who eventually took victory on Ventoux as he held off Porte in the final kilometres. It was a very impressive ride with Porte finishing 18-seconds down in second and Martin making it to third.

Results

Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge 2020: Vaison-la-Romaine to Mont Ventoux (179km)

1. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana, in 4-56-39

2. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo, at 18s

3. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis, at 59s

4. Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale, at 1-29

5. Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, at 1-38

6. Harold Alfonso Tejada (Col) Astana, at 1-43

7. Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-51

8. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa-Samsic, at 1-57

9. Jesús Herrada (Esp) Cofidis, at 2-15

10. Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 2-32

The unique Mont Ventoux one-day race returns for 2020, with star riders Romain Bardet, Richie Porte and Fabio Aru among the starters.

CIC-Mont Ventoux Denivele Challenges is now in its second year, with its finish atop one of cycling’s most iconic climbs.

Last season, Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) and Bardet  (Ag2r La Mondiale) went head to head on the slopes of Ventoux as the race landed in the cycling calendar with a bang.

But after Herrada took the victory by just nine seconds over the Frenchman, both riders will return for the 2020 edition, scheduled to run on Thursday, August 6.

Race director Nicolas Garcera said: “This second edition of the CIC-Mont Ventoux Denivele Challenges comes with an exciting announcement.

“We are very happy and very proud to bring together such a beautiful start list just a few days after the season resumes.

“Some of the best climbers in the world will be there, among them the title holder and the second place finisher in the 2019 edition.”

The second edition of the race features as twist, as the peloton will ascent Mont Ventoux twice before the finish.

Riders will travel to the lower point of Chalet Reynard mid-way through the race, before heading to the classic summit after 182km of racing.

Starting from Vaison-la-Romaine, the racer heads over the Cold de Dontaube and Sault before the peloton hits the Bédoin ascent of Ventoux twice.

Mont Ventoux, which has featured in the Tour de France 16 times, is steeped in cycling history, both glorious and tragic.

In 1967, Brit Tom Simpson died on the slopes of the 21km climb.

The climb first featured in the Tour in 1951, but not as a summit finish.

A Ventoux finish line first appeared in 1958, with an individual time trial from Bédoin to the top won by Charly Gaul.

There have been 10 summit finishes atop Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France’s history.

At 8.7%, it is a brutal finale to the one-day race.

Other riders lining up include Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Miguel Ángel López (Astana).

Garcera added: “With the two climbs of Mont Ventoux on the program, all the ingredients are there to witness a magnificent fight in the largest of settings. "

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So far 18 teams have confirmed their participation in the event, including Ag2r La Mondiale, Astana, Groupama-FDJ, Cofidis, UAE Team Emirates and Trek-Segafredo.

Matthew Holmes announced himself to the rest of the WorldTour by winning stage six of the Tour Down Under, with some even calling for Willunga Hill to be renamed Wiganlunga after the Brit's exploits in Australia.

Richie Porte will no doubt be disappointed at having lost his streak of wins up the climb, dating back to 2014, but will be satisfied with a second overall title at his home stage race.

More interestingly, is what this performance could mean for the rest of Porte's season. Since leaving Sky in 2015 to pursue his own Grand Tour ambitions he's had a fairly tough time of it. The 34-year-old's best Tour de France finish is fifth in 2016 and in the following years he's had two DNFs followed by an 11th on GC in 2019.

What will give the Tasmanian hope, however, is that judging by his own performance on Willunga Hill he seems to be flying this year.

According to his Strava data, Porte knocked half a minute off his previous best times on Willunga Hill over the past two years. While Strava measures the climb 700m short of the 3.7km in the Tour Down Under roadbook, it still provides a reference point with which to compare the Trek-Segafredo rider.

In 2018, Porte finished the climb in 7-08 as he beat Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) by eight seconds on the day.

Then in 2019, having transferred to Trek-Segafredo, he improved his time by six seconds to 7-02, beating Impey and Wout Poels (Ineos) on the line but again finishing runner-up to the South African in the general classification.

However, his 2020 time blows these two most recent attempts out of the water, not only breaking the seven-minute barrier but smashing it.

Averaging a speed of 17mph, Porte climbed the 729ft of elevation in 6-34, beating his 2019 time by 28 seconds.

The difference may well have been that in 2020 he had many riders up the road to use as markers, which will have helped his effort.

In 2018 and 2019, Porte attacked with around 1.4km to go on the same section of road where the gradient increased. In 2018 he had only Wout Poels and Kenny Elissonde further up the road to aim for and the following year he attacked on his own and soloed to victory.

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However this year there were two fragmenting groups ahead of the GC pack, which Porte had to work his way through to try and take both the stage win and overall victory instead of making one big effort to drop the field.

With Simon Yates tracking Porte as they dispensed with the rest of the field with 1.5km to go, also catching breakaway riders, the Australian then attacked under the 1km banner. He bridged the gap to Holmes' group 200m later, before attacking again with 500m remaining. The fact that Porte had to fight the Lotto-Soudal rider right up to the finish line meant there was no let-up at all.

Porte's new best time on the climb is nine seconds faster than Simon Geschke (CCC), who rode a strong race and final climb to rise up to the third GC spot.

Meanwhile, Impey now holds the ninth-best time on the climb, despite faltering and losing the race lead, eventually ending up in sixth on GC, 30 seconds down.

Whether the circumstance of the stage finale was the reason behind Porte's speedy ascent or an indicator of his form this season, we'll just have to wait to find out.

Richie Porte utilised a trademark attack on stage three of the Tour Down Under to explode into the race lead.

The Trek-Segafredo rider fired away early on the final short and steep Torrens Hill Road climb to the line in Paracombe, immediately pulling out a big gap and clinging on to stage honours as his rivals reacted too late behind.

Porte's move, reminiscent of his famed attacks on the Willunga Hill stage of the race, saw him finish five seconds ahead of Robert Power (Sunweb) and Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), as the Australian now moves into the race lead with a six-second gap over Daryl Impey in second.

How it happened

Stage three of the 2020 Tour Down Under has been described as the Queen Stage of this year's event, with an undulating course over 131km from Unley in central Adelaide to Paracombe just outside the city.

The day started with a climb immediately from the flat, an uncategorised 6.4km ascent at 6.2 per cent average.

Then the bulk of the stage was relentlessly undulating, with no more categorised climbs on the course but countless rises that would wear down the legs.

The peloton would then approach the decisive final climb after around 130km of racing - only 1.2km-long but at a daunting 9.3 per cent average, the gradient was expected to be too great for the sprinters, making this the day we could see the general classification start to take shape.

As the peloton rolled out from Unley, a breakaway formed in the first 2km with three riders making their escape - Miles Scotson (Groupama-FDJ), Guillaume Boivin (Israel Start-Up National) and Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r La Mondiale).

Early in the day the trio pulled out a four-minute advantage over the bunch, but the general classification teams were determined to keep them on a tight leash, so Mitchelton-Scott and Trek-Segafredo contributed to the chase and pulled the break back down to 2-15 with 60km to race.

Inside 20km, Boivin cracked and Scotson kept the pressure on and quickly lost Bouchard as well.

Despite a brave effort, Scotson was caught around 9km from the line, setting up a tense and rapid run to the final climb.

Mitchelton-Scott led the bunch the whole way in to the final, but it was Marco Marcato from UAE Team Emirates who attacked first as soon as the peloton turned right onto the climb.

Marcato pulled out a big gap and held, but Trek-Segafredo quickly put their young climber Juan Pedro López onto the chase with Porte right on his wheel.

Porte jumped out of the saddle and launched his attack with around 1km to race, rapidly pulling away from Rohan Dennis and Team Ineos who led the peloton.

After gaining an enormous gap with the initial attack, Porte continued to power towards the summit.

Robert Power, Simon Yates and George Bennett were the only riders able to respond, forming a small chasing group but struggling to make up ground on Porte.

With 500m to race, Porte hit the relative respite of the flat section and still had the gap, which he carried to the line to raise an arm in victory.

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Yates put in a burst of speed in the final 200m but it was only enough to slightly narrow Porte's time advantage. Power took second at the line with Yates finishing third, five-seconds behind the winner.

Reigning champion Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) finished in the chasing group to stay within range of the overall lead.

Results

Tour Down Under 2020, stage three: Unley to Paracombe (131km)

1. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo, in 3-14-09

2. Robert Power (Aus) Sunweb, at 5s

3. Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott

4. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team Ineos

5. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

6. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott

7. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos

8. Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team)

9. George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma, all at same time

10. Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, at 13s

General classification after stage three

1. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo, in 10-10-24

2. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott, at 6s

3. Robert Power (Aus) Sunweb, at 9s

4. Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 11s

5. George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s

6. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, at 15s

7. Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team

8. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team Ineos

9. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos, all at same time

10. Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, at 23s

Once again Richie Porte will start his season at the Tour Down Under where the 34-year-old will be aiming for a seventh consecutive win on Willunga Hill. The Trek-Segafredo rider will lead a strong squad at the first WorldTour event of 2020, with new world champion Mads Pedersen also in Australia next month.

Attracting huge crowds, Willunga Hill has been the signature climb of the Tour Down Under for some years, and Porte has mastered it, winning there each season since 2014. However, winning the stage does not necessarily lead to overall victory, the Tasmanian has won the general classification only once.

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After his home race, Porte will continue his season by targeting Paris-Nice. The Race to the Sun has been another happy hunting ground for the Australian, since 2013 he was won five stages and the general classification twice.

The Tour de France has not brought similar success for Porte though, and this year he will share leadership with Dutch team-mate, Bauke Mollema.

The Australian’s relationship with the Tour has been a fractious one over the years. While he possesses the talents and physical attributes to challenge in France - he is excellent both in the mountains and against the clock - he has rarely performed to expectations.

Last year he lost time in the early team time trial and in crosswinds, and while he recovered some time in the individual time trial, he failed to shine in the late mountains stages, eventually finishing 11th overall.

He failed to finish the two preceding editions, falling victim to injuries sustained in some horrific crashes. However, he is far from an also-ran in France, his best finish coming with fifth place in 2016, his first year leading the BMC team. 

After the Tour Under, new world champion Perdersen will show off the rainbow jersey at the cobbled classics before building towards supporting Porte and Mollema in France.

Trek-Segafredo also announced a provisional calendar for new recruit Vincenzo Nibali. Having joined for 2020 from Bahrain-Merida, the Italian will lead at Tirreno-Adriatico before bidding for a third win at May's Giro d’Italia.

One of the sport’s most consistent three-week competitors, Nibali is one of only two current riders to have won all three grand tours, and may well join Mollema at the Vuelta a España late in the season.

After a fairly disappointing return to the Tour de France, Richie Porte opted to let off some steam by completing a heroic Everest challenge just days after the final stage of the Grand Tour.

Trek-Segafredo rider Porte took to the slopes of the Col de la Madone on Saturday (August 3) to take on the huge effort to celebrate the birthday of friend and professional triathlete Cameron Wurf.

Porte, who finished 11th on general classification in Paris last weekend, uploaded the ride to Strava and the stats reveal how tough it is to Everest an Alpine climb.

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The Col de la Madone is 13.1km in length and averages seven per cent gradient, with ramps up to 10 per cent, making it a daunting climb to reach the magic number of 8,848m, the height of the tallest mountain in the world.

Porte and Wurf set off from the foot of the climb near Menton at 6.20am on Saturday and finished their ride 16 hours later, after 14 hours and 22 minutes moving time.

The pair covered 270km to reach the target altitude gain, with Strava saying they went over to 9,012 metres.

Porte averaged 18.8km/h during the ride as he rode the full distance of the regular training climb for pros 10 times, and then climbed back up to Saint-Agnés three-quarters of the way up to round off the ride.

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The official rules for completing the Everest challenge are set by Everesting CC – the ride must be over 8,847m altitude gain minimum, it must be a single activity on a single climb, and you cannot ride a loop, it must be up and down the same climb on the same road.

Porte accomplished the huge feat just a week after finishing the Tour de France, where he finished almost 13 minutes down on race winner Egan Bernal (Team Ineos).

The 34-year-old has no races currently on his schedule for the rest of the year, having ridden the Tour Down Under, the UAE Tour, the Volta a Catalunya, the Tour of California and the Critérium du Dauphiné before the Tour.

Richie Porte was able to remain calm under pressure and avoided losses after hitting his head in a fall at the Tour de France.

The Australian went down in a high-speed crash around 30km from the finish of stage 11 that left a small group of riders chasing the bunch, with Porte’s Trek-Segafredo team suffering the worst casualties.

Porte was one of five Trek riders caught in the pile-up, as team-mate and former race leader Giulio Ciccone fell hard and was left behind the peloton, crossing the line 12 minutes down on stage winner, Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal).

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Speaking after the stage, Porte said: “I hit my head pretty hard so we’ll see how that is. Otherwise it’s not so bad. Ciccone had a pretty bad crash so hopefully he’s okay.

“In the grand scheme of things it wasn’t a terrible crash. We were up front. They’re pretty indiscriminate the crashes here. It’s a relief to get the first crash over and done with.”

The collision 30km from the finish in Toulouse caused split which saw Porte and general classification rival Nairo Quintana (Movistar) distanced.

Trek were composed in the chaos and swiftly began the chase, as the peloton slowed up front allowing the back-markers to regain contact.

Porte avoided losing any more time – a welcome result after he lost 1-40 to the GC favourites in the crosswinds on the road to Albi on stage 10.

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The 34-year-old head into the Pyrenees in 19th place overall, 3-59 down on race leader Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) and almost three minutes down to yellow jersey in waiting Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos).

He is one of several contenders who will look to make up time on stage 12 to Bagnéres-de-Bigorre, with two first category climbs in the final 70km – the Col de Peyresourde and the Horquette d’Ancizan.

On whether his crash will affect his performance, Porte said: “I hope not. We’ll see.”

Richie Porte has been left with an early setback to his hopes of an overall win at the Tour de France, following a stage two team time trial performance that his Trek-Segafredo sports director described as 'annoying'.

The Australian lost 1-18 to stage winners Jumbo-Visma and 58 seconds to Team Ineos after Trek-Segafredo could only muster an 18th place finish.

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The 34-year-old remains optimistic however with the Tour only on its second stage, with five summit finishes to come in the next three weeks. Porte will potentially aim to start making back time on the race's first summit finish to La Planche des Belles Filles on Thursday. He has not been in outstanding form this year however, coming into the Tour with just one win under his belt at the Tour Down Under in January.

Porte said following the team time trial that he thought his team did the best they could with what they had, with Dutchman Koen de Kort not 100 per cent after crashing on stage one.

"It’s not ideal but we did a good team time trial there," Porte said immediately after the team's effort. "Obviously we lost Koen [de Kort] quite early, maybe after the crash yesterday. I think we did a really nice ride and there’s still a long way to go.

"We’ve done the recon and the Pyrenees are always hard but the Alps this year, the last three stages are brutal. The last week is definitely where the race is going to be decided, [but] it’s never nice to lose time like that.

"We did a really good ride with what we’ve got," he later added. "Obviously we’d like to be around the mark a little bit more... it’s not ideal.

"[Team time trialling is] not really my thing; 58kg trying to hold the wheel of those bigger fellas, but I’m not throwing the toys out of the cot just yet, it’s a long way to go and the climbing stages are coming up."

Trek-Segafredo sports director Steven De Jongh sounded less positive though, saying the start to the Tour had been "annoying" after De Kort's crash and stomach issues for Toms Skujiņš left the team weakened for the crucial TTT.

"We were not fast enough," De Jongh said.

"Koen had a difficult day after the crash yesterday. Toms has been fighting stomach problems and also didn't have a super day, and then you already miss two elements. They did a good start but couldn't hold the pace.

"It's a bit annoying to start out like this, but the Tour is long and there will be days where we can get some time back. We calculated we would lose some time today, but not so much, and that's a disappointment."

Richie Porte is aiming to take the focus away from the Tour de France in the 2019 season with his new Trek-Segafredo team.

The Australian Grand Tour hopeful has had another promising start to the year, winning on the Willunga Hill stage of his home race for the sixth time in as many years.

But the 34-year-old said he hopes the pressure will be off with his new team, and that he won’t be judging the season based entirely on the Tour.

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In an interview with Australian newspaper The Examiner, Porte said: “It’s a team I’ve been close to joining a couple of times.

“It really takes the pressure off. With Trek, the Tour’s not the reason why they signed me.

“You go there and have a crash and it’s like the season is looked at as a disaster, but it’s not.

“If you win other races, it’s still a good season.”

Porte certainly has the skills to win a Grand Tour, being both an outstanding climber and a strong time triallist.

But he crashed out of the Tour in 2017 and 2018, both on stage nine.

His best result is fifth on GC in 2016.

Porte told The Examiner the biggest victory of his career was the Tour de Suisse last year, putting it above even Paris-Nice.

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He hopes to repeat that success this year, and said he will “see what happens at the Tour” while hoping to avoid the bad luck.

To recover from his spate of serious injuries, Porte said he has been focusing on pilates to get his mobility back.

He added: “I will probably do at least another four years, that will take me up to 37.

“I’ll just take it while I’m getting offered contracts. It’s not a bad job. It has its moments.”

Daryl Impey became the first rider ever to win the Tour Down Under for a second successive season as Richie Porte won on Willunga Hill yet again.

South African champion Impey, winner of stage four and seven seconds off the lead before the stage, benefited from overnight leader Patrick Bevin (CCC Team) being unable to keep pace with the peloton, owing to the injuries he suffered on stage five.

But the Mitchelton-Scott man also rode superbly to ride to third place on the sixth and final stage, behind Wout Poels (Team Sky) in second and the King of Willunga Porte in first.

It was Porte's sixth victory in as many years atop the climb and he finished second overall on GC, the fourth time in five years the 2017 winner and new Trek-Segafredo signing has done so.

The stage was Mat Hayman's final as a professional, the 2016 Paris-Roubaix winner bowing out at his home race.

How it happened

Seven riders clubbed together to form a breakaway in the first throes of the 151km stage. Brit Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin) teamed up with Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Danny van Poppel (Team Jumbo-Visma), Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar), Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R La Mondiale), Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Nicolas White (UniSA-Australia).

They stretched out a typical length advantage to the peloton but they were never going to allow them to go the full distance given the importance of the stage. As such, with 25km to go and the first ascent of Willunga Hill approaching, only Van Poppel and White remained with Team Sky working hard behind.

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Meanwhile, Bevin was seen dropping back through the peloton at an alarming rate on the climb, relinquishing his lead on the final day a a result of the crash he suffered the previous day. It meant that Impey was the virtual race leader.

Up front, Kenny Elissonde of Team Sky attacked from the front of the peloton, and he was soon joined by teammate and leader Poels. Lone leader White was passed, and the Sky duo built a sizeable lead as they crested Willunga Hill ahead of the peloton.

The duo, however, were sucked back into the peloton but their attack ignited more moves. There was 20km to race when Héctor Carretero (Movistar) then jumped clear, eventually being joined by Bora-Hansgrohe's Daniel Oss and Tomasz Marczyński (Lotto-Soudal).

Climbers and general classification riders in the reduced peloton, however, instructed their teams not to allow the trio to stay away and with seven kilometres to go they were caught, despite a renewed attack by Carretero.

As the riders came within a kilometre of ascending the 3.6km Willunga Hill climb, Luis Leon Sanchez's Movistar took over proceedings at the front of the peloton, aware that the Spaniard was only nine seconds adrift of Impey who was also well-positioned at the head of the race.

The opening kilometre of the 7.1 percent average gradient climb was a war of attrition, with no one making any moves as Dylan van Baarle of Team Sky set the pace.

Elissonde kept the tempo high as the Dutchman peeled off, and the Frenchman then went by himself, catching other riders unaware. As everyone else remained static, Poels surged off the front again, joining his teammate Elissonde who slipstreamed the Dutch climber up the hill.

At 1.3km to go, Porte's expected attack came and he was joined immediately by Chris Hamilton (Team Sunweb) and Michael Woods (EF Education-First). At the flamme rouge he passed Poels, though the Sky rider quickly jumped on his back wheel and kept with him.

Australian Porte grimaced as he tried to ride Poels off his wheel. At 500m, he eventually unshackled Poels from him and the Tasmanian roared to the finish line, flanked by his home supporters. Knowing he needed to win by 10 seconds to beat Impey, he got up out of his saddle, stretching every sinew to try and unseat the South African at the summit of the GC.

But even though Porte was able to win atop the climb for the sixth successive time, Impey rolled home just a few metres behind Porte and Poels, securing him his second consecutive GC triumph in the race.

Results

Tour Down Under 2019, stage six: McLaren Vale > Willunga Hill (151.5km)

1. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo in 3-30-14

2. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky

3. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott, both at same time

4. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida, at 3secs

5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana

6. Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb, both at 6secs

7. Michael Woods (Cad) Team Sunweb at 15 secs

8. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE-Team Emirates

9. Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data

10. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, all at 17secs.

Final general classification after six stages

1. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott, in 20:20.42

2. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo, at 13secs

3. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, at 17secs

4. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, at 19secs

5. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida, at 26secs

6. Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb, at 33secs

7. Michael Woods (Cad) Team Sunweb, at 38secs

8. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin

9. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE-Team Emirates

10. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, all at 40secs

Riche Porte is looking to add to his collection of victories at the Tour Down Under in his first race with Trek - Segafredo.

Porte will line up with his new team during the first WorldTour race of the year, as he chases a sixth consecutive win on Willunga Hill.

The 33-year-old, who has only taken overall victory at the TDU once in 2017, has been chasing Grand Tour success in recent years and will be looking for an emphatic start to his season.

Porte said: “It’s always nice to start with a new team.

“I haven’t done a lot of time with the rest of the Trek - Segafredo boys but I know most of the guys and we have a good solid team here, so I think we can hit the ground running in this first race of the year."

>>> Extreme heat & wind forces Tour Down Under to cut kilometres

Porte switches to Trek - Segafredo from BMC Racing, where he had been striving for Grand Tour success.

The Australian’s hopes of Tour de France victory were upended on stage nine of both the 2017 and 2018 races, when he was forced to retire due to crashes.

On his new outfit, Porte said: “We have probably one of the strongest teams I’ve ever been in for stages likes the last one to Willunga Hill, with guys like Peter Stetina and Jarlinson Pantano.

“Besides them, we’ve also got guys like Koen de Kort, who’s one of the most experienced and very good at crosswinds, together with Kiel Reijnen and Ryan Mullen.

“We’ve got a well-balanced and solid team here and I hope it will continue like that for the rest of the year.”

The now-famous Willunga Hill stage has been moved to the final day, meaning the general classification battle won’t be settled until the final meters.

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But stage three to Uraidla features 3,000meters of climbing, more than the Willunga Hill test, which means the GC struggle is likely to be defined there.

Porte added: “I think the course suited me a little better two years ago, but this year it’s also a good, challenging course.

“It’s just nice to come to Adelaide in January, this race is fantastic.

“It depends how [stage three] is ridden.

“We did the recon the other day, it’s a pretty tricky, hard stage.

“If it’s a hot day and the peloton doesn’t feel like riding hard, it could also be nothing, but looking at the course, if the proverbial hits the fan, it’s going to be a good fight indeed.”

Grand Tour threat Richie Porte will make his Trek-Segafredo debut at his home race.

Porte, who has switched from BMC Racing to Trek for 2019, has won the now-famous Willunga Hill stage five years in a row and will look to repeat his early season success.

The 33-year-old has failed to deliver on his potential at the Tour de France in recent years, having crashed out of the last two editions.

>>> Tour Down Under 2019 route: Willunga Hill remains the pivotal stage amongst a host of sprints

He said: “The Tour Down Under is always a goal for me in the start of the season and it’s a joy to race in Adelaide every January.

“Obviously, riding my first race with Trek-Segafredo in Australia, I will be extra motivated to start with a good showing on GC and hope to continue the Willunga success.

“There is to be a very strong bunch of GC favourites racing who want to win the race so I know I’ll need to be on top of my game and I will be.”

Willunga Hill will no longer be the penultimate stage of this year’s Tour Down Under, instead it has been moved to the final day, taking the GC battle into the final kilometres of the race.

Porte finished fifth in the 2016 Tour de France with BMC Racing, but crashed out of the 2017 and 2018 editions, both on stage nine.

>>> Tour Down Under 2019 start list 

The former lieutenant to Chris Froome at Team Sky left the British WorldTour outfit to pursue his own glories with BMC.

He has since moved to Trek-Segafredo after BMC’s future was thrown into doubt last year.

Trek’s line-up at the first race of the 2019 season will include William Clarke, Koen de Kort, Ryan Mullen, Jarlinson Pantano, Kiel Reijnen and Peter Stetina.

The Tour Down Under kicks off on January 15, with six stages around Adelaide in the south of Australia.

Australian Grand Tour hopeful Richie Porte is due to ride the 2019 Herald Sun Tour for the first time in eight years.

Porte will take part in the stage race down under for the first time since 2011 in Trek-Segafredo kit.

The 34-year-old moves to Trek from BMC, which is undergoing a radical change and becoming CCC Team from next year.

Porte told the Herald Sun: “I’ve wanted to do it for years, but it just never really fit or I was riding for teams that weren’t going to do it, but next year with Trek it just worked.”

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The Tasmanian, who left Team Sky in 2015 to chase his own general classification ambitions, is expected to open his season at the Tour Down Under in January, where he has racked up six previous stage wins.

He will then race the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race before taking to the line of the 66^th edition of the Herald Sun Tour, which runs from January 30 to February 3.

Porte has been chasing Grand Tour victory in recent years, but has been hindered by back luck.

>>> Tour Down Under 2019 route: Willunga Hill remains the pivotal stage amongst a host of sprints

He finished fifth in the 2016 Tour de France, but has not finished the last two editions of the race, crashing on stage nine of both the 2017 and 2018 editions.

Other big name riders have been firming up their 2019 plan, including Chris Froome (Team Sky), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data).

Froome is due to open his season with the Tour Colombia in February, while sprinters Cavendish and Sagan will go head-to-head at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina in January.

Australian favourite Richie Porte (BMC Racing) has pulled out of the 2018 World Championship road race due to illness.

Porte was due to lead the Australian team in Innsbruck on Sunday but has confirmed he will not feature.

The team decided Porte’s position as leader should be given to another rider after he contracted a respiratory infection at the end of the Vuelta a España

Porte said: “I’m really disappointed to miss the road race. It was a big goal for me at the end of the season and I had been training and racing with the road race in mind.

“However, recent illness means my preparation has been far from ideal and for a race of this difficulty, with more than 4,600 metres of climbing, you need to have the best preparation possible to be up there.”

>>>UCI Road World Championships 2018: dates, route, where to watch and more

Porte has struggled with injury and illness over the last two seasons, suffering a horrific crash on a descent in the 2017 Tour de France.

In this year’s Tour, the 33-year-old crashed on the Roubaix stage and was forced to pull out of the race.

He returned to the peloton at the Vuelta but again struggled due to illness.

Porte said: “Within the Cycling Australia team, we have decided that it is in the team’s best interest if my place goes to someone else.

“I wish the whole Aussie team the best and will be cheering them on from home.”

BMC Racing’s team doctor, Dr Max Testa said Porte needs more time to recover from the illness.

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Dr Testa said: “Richie developed an upper respiratory infection towards the end of the Vuelta a España which has required him to take antibiotics and stop training.

“He will need a few more days off the bike to recover properly which means it does not make sense for him to line up at the World Championships.

“Richie will resume training next week and will be able to race again this season.”

Cycling Australia announced over the weekend that Porte’s place would be taken by 24-year-old Nick Schultz.

The team said the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA rider will take on a climbing support role.

Australia Cycling’s team performance director Simon Jones: “No one is more disappointed than Richie, and he knows he won’t be able to perform to his high expectations.

“The team has worked really hard behind the scenes to pull the game plan together, and we will regroup and refocus during the week ahead.”

Schultz said: “It is an honour to be selected to represent Australia at the World Championships.

“I will give my maximum to deliver what is required.”

Trek-Segafredo have officially announced their signing of Richie Porte, who joins the US registered team from BMC Racing.

The 33-year-old Australian rider was rumoured to be signing with Trek back in June, though his salary was reportedly to be decided by his performance at the Tour de France.

Porte - who crashed out of the Tour on stage nine - will be racing the 2018 Vuelta a España in BMC's colours before he moves on to lead his new team in 2019.

The two time Paris-Nice victor (2013 and 2015) won the Tour de Suisse this year, and took second at the Tour Down Under, clinching a stage win on day five.

Porte is one of a number of riders to move on, after BMC's future looked insecure until they were saved by a merger with Polish pro-conti team CCC Sprandi Polkowice.

Other members of US team BMC to sign elsewhere include Rohan Dennis, to Bahrain-Merida and Tejay van Garderen who has confirmed a place at EF Education First-Drapac.

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Porte has signed a two-year contract, taking him up to 2020 - and he will focus on Grand Tours as well as the one week races where he's excelled in the past.

Announcing the two-year contract, Porte said: “I am thrilled to finally confirm that I will join Trek-Segafredo in 2019.

"I had a great time at BMC Racing Team, and I want to thank them for the past three years, but I feel ready to take on another challenge, which I am certain I will find at Trek-Segafredo."

"I am particularly looking forward to focusing on more races throughout the year," he said. "Of course, the Tour de France will still be a huge goal for me, and I am excited to go there to race with a super strong team alongside me, but I will also aim for one-week stage races, like the ones I have won before, and the ones I have never raced."

"Honestly, I am really excited to start this new chapter in my career - I can’t wait,” he added.

General Manager Luca Guercilena: “Richie is a remarkable cyclist that has shown his capacities in the past, and I am confident he still has great results in him for the next few years.

"Obviously, he has a lot of experience and leadership to share with our young riders, something I believe the whole team will benefit from. I am sure he will fit in well with the group of riders we are assembling for next year. We are excited to have him on board!”

Porte joins Trek-Segafredo alongside Matteo Moschetti (Polartec-Kometa). Other renewals there include Koen De Kort, Markel Irizar, Jasper Stuyven, Mads Pedersen, and Fumiyuki Beppu.

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) says his next big target of the season will be at the World Championships, but first says he'll need to find his form at the Vuelta a España.

The Australian has been out of action since crashing in the early part of stage nine of the Tour de France to Roubaix and breaking his collarbone. He outlined shortly after that he would be targetting a return to Grand Tour racing at the Vuelta, a race he hasn't started since 2012 when he said he "got an absolute kicking."

Porte, like many riders who have suffered injury or lack of form during the season, will be looking for a long awaited Grand Tour win in what he described as "last chance saloon" for some riders.

"I'll find out where I'm at during the Vuelta like a lot of guys," SBS reports Porte as saying.

"The Vuelta is not the race to ride unless you're 100 per cent motivated. It's hard. I last rode the Vuelta in 2012 and I got an absolute kicking,"

"It's like that last chance saloon; there are guys looking for contracts, guys who are absolutely flying. People said it's the most relaxed of the Grand Tours, with an organised gruppetto. But I was out the back at 14km into a stage and there was no organised gruppetto.

"I don't know where my form will be but that's a nice goal to go to the Vuelta and try to see how it goes."

The 33-year-old, who is set to move to Trek-Segafredo for 2019 after three years with BMC, is also eyeing a result at the World Championships in September, in both the individual time trial and the difficult climbing course of the road race in Innsbruck-Tirol.

The time trial, a lumpy 54.2km course, should suit those like Porte who thrive against the clock but can also climb. The rode race should be one that sees only the very best climbers and puncheurs contesting the finale, with around 5,000m of climbing over 265km.

"The biggest goal is the Worlds now," Porte said.

"A couple of days after the crash, it was nice to get a message from Brad McGee, the Aussie national team selector. He put that thought in my head and that motivated me to get my act together to get back before the season is out."

"I think there are 10 days between the Vuelta and the time trial, so hopefully that's enough time to get some recovery and check out the courses.

"The time trial is something like 52km, that's a long one. But I'll have a go at it. I think the road race course is good for me, it's not one you often see one so tough like that."

A crash just seven kilometres after the start of stage nine of the Tour de France saw Richie Porte become the first general classification contender to abandon the 2018 race, but the Australian is already starting to turn his attention to new goals later in the season.

Speaking just a day after he was forced to pull out of the Tour due to a crash for the second year in succession, Porte reflected on his lack of fortune in the race and how he instantly knew the diagnosis as he sat on the tarmac outside Arras.

"It's not the way I wanted it to end, especially after last year, and it's painful physically and mentally but it is what it is," the 33-year-old said.

"I crashed before we got the cobbles, it was just a racing incident. I don't remember anything other than being on the ground.

"All cyclists know the feeling of breaking your collarbone, but that's life. It was confirmed by the first race doctor who said that I needed to get in the ambulance.

"It was a bit of a shock, and then you think about all the hard work you've done to get to that point and it's pretty overwhelming.

>>> Geraint Thomas sends best wishes to 'biggest threat' Richie Porte after Tour de France crash

However despite the obvious disappointment Porte is already looking ahead to goals later in the season, aiming to get back training in the next week while spending time with his family.

"The good thing is I haven't done anything to my legs so I'll be able to get back on the bike next week and turn the legs over on the trainer.

"The Vuelta is probably a realistic goal and also the World Championships. It's nice to be motivated to still race late in the season. There are some nice races to finish up the season.

"It's a nice silver lining to be able to go home to see my wife and son. And I can't be on nappy duty as well which is also a very good thing."

The Tour de France will continue without Porte on Tuesday with a 158.5km mountain stage between Annecy and Le Grand-Bornard.

An emotional win for John Degenkolb

It’s been a long journey for John Degenkolb since the horrific crash he suffered on a training ride at the start of 2016.

Although he managed to return to racing a few months later, the German has in the subsequent years fallen short of the extraordinary form that saw him win both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix in his last season before the crash.

Just when it seemed as though we’d never again see the Degenkolb of old, however, he produced an exceptional display on the cobbles, joining the yellow jersey of Greg van Avermaet (BMC) and Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) on the penultimate section of pave, and staying composed to use his superior sprint for the win.

Even during his prime years, a Tour de France stage was something that eluded Degenkolb, who finished second in a total of five stages between 2013-2015, and once again in 2017, before finally winning today.

With all this in mind, it’s easy to understand Degenkolb’s deeply emotional reaction at the finish. Given all he’s been through, his success today will be popular among fans across the world.

Most GC riders survive the stage intact

For all the chaos, for all the carnage, for all the crashes, there was surprisingly little change in the GC once the dust had settled.

Almost every major GC contender seemed to spend some time either out the back and / or suffer a crash or puncture, yet come the end of the stage most finished in a substantial group of several dozen riders.

Present in that group was Chris Froome (Sky), despite crashing (relatively softly) on sector 8; Mikel Landa (Movistar) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r), who had looked set to lose time before a speedy late chase saw their group catch back up to the peloton; and Dan Martin (UAE Emirates), resurgent after yesterday’s crash, and who even managed to gain time by claiming bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.

The most significant incident in the GC actually occured before a cobblestone had been ridden, with Richie Porte (BMC) abandoning after a crash early in the day, much like Chris Froome four years ago.

The only major GC favorite to lose significant time was Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First). Last year’s runner-up is now 2-53 adrift having been unable to bridge back to the peloton following a crash, a deficit that will be difficult to bridge but not big enough yet to end his GC ambitions.

Romain Bardet survives nightmare day

Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) endured the kind of day that every GC rider in the race will have been dreading the hellish cobblestones might serve up.

Having re-conned the cobbles earlier this year by racing Dwars Door Vlaanderen, and as a rider praised for his great bike-handling, Bardet might have been one of the GC riders to take the race on against the others.

But things certainly didn’t shape up that way. The day started badly when he had to stop three times for a puncture and two bike changes over the first few sectors, then preceded to get worse when he punctured again on sector nine.

Somehow, after eventually making it back into the peloton after a long chase, he proceeded to suffer yet another puncture with just 6km to go, and it was only down to some exceptional work from his teammates (and maybe, allegedly, some motorbike assistance) that he managed to make it back again and limit his losses to just seven seconds.

It could be argued that in such circumstances you make your own luck, and perhaps Bardet was riding too much in the gutter, where the risks of puncturing are greater?

But such a judgment would be very harsh. Ultimately, Bardet – as well as his very impressive team – did very well to survive the stage with their GC hopes in tact.

BMC see GC hopes go up in smoke

Everything had been going so well for BMC. The team had enjoyed the collective thrill of winning the team time trial stage, had spent most of the week in control of the yellow jersey through Greg van Avermaet, and had Richie Porte in a strong position on GC.

But the team’s long term plans for the Tour were dramatically scuppered when Porte crashed and broke his collarbone, forcing the Australian to yet again abandon the Tour having looked in good enough form to challenge for the overall – a pattern that has bee frustratingly familiar throughout his Grand Tour career.

Worse still, BMC’s plan B went up in smoke when Tejay van Garderen crashed and finished over five minutes down, and the stage even ended in disappointment when Van Avermaet was out-sprinted to the line by Degenkolb for the win.

On the bright side, the Belgian not only defended the yellow jersey, but extended his lead to 43 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas (Sky).

But it’s likely the team will only have one more stage in control of the jersey as the Tour reaches the Alps following tomorrow’s rest day, after which they’ll need to regroup and devise a new strategy for how to ride for the rest of the race.

Thrilling drama or farce?

The stage undoubtedly produced a ton of drama, with barely a minute going by without some sort of incident taking place on the road.

But most of that drama was confined to crashes and mechanicals. Unlike most editions of the real Paris-Roubaix, or even the Tour’s visit to the cobblestones of northern France in 2014, there wasn’t actually much action off the front of the peloton, with most selections being forced through crashes rather than attacks, until the trio of Degenkolb, Lampaert and Van Avermaet broke clear.

A Tour de France stage should test riders in many different ways, and it’s great to see pavé included in the route. But the sheer number of crashes, with so many riders with so little experience of riding in this environment, it did threaten to become something of a farce.

At times it felt more like a lottery in which the winners were those who managed to avoid incident, rather than a test of bravery and skill.

There are plenty of examples of the Tour being boosted by a cobbled stage like today – but this particularly stage was perhaps a little too extreme for the mix of riders gathered to take part.

Richie Porte will never wear the red and black BMC Racing colours on the podium in Paris after he crashed and abandoned again in the Tour de France.

The Australian fell in the Arras-Roubaix stage nine, before the race hit the first of 15 cobbled sectors. He dislocated his right shoulder and pulled out immediately.

The team is set to wind up this year, with Porte tipped to move to Trek Segafredo. He has perhaps one more chance, at this year's Vuelta a Espana, to win a Grand Tour for BMC.

"It was stage nine last year, too," said team-mate Stefan Küng. "Getting Richie on the podium in Paris in BMC colours just wasn't meant to be."

Porte crashed in the first half-hour after leaving Arras for the cobbled journey to the famous monument finish at Roubaix. He never had a chance to ride the cobbles that had caused so much consternation since the race began last Saturday.

"There was nothing he could have done differently," added Küng. "I was on the right hand side of the road and he was in the middle of it. At this point it just happened. I was a big bummer to the team."

Yellow jersey leader Greg Van Avermaet had the freedom to ride his own race even before the stage began, while the other six men aimed to stay with classification leader Porte.

With the Australian out, Van Avermaet took the focus. He made the lead group of three, but lost the day to John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo). He did however extend his yellow jersey lead to 43 seconds over Geraint Thomas (Team Sky).

Porte never had a chance to lead BMC to the top in Paris, unlike his compatriot Cadel Evans in 2011. Last year Porte crashed in stage nine and fractured his collarbone and pelvis.

"It was a pretty hectic day, we lost Richie after 10 kilometres," Van Avermaet said. "Two years in a row. You can lose one year your GC goal but now two years, at 32, it is not the best for him. It will not be easy to get back for him mentally. Good thing his crash was not as bad as last year."

"We have worked on this for a whole year," Allan Peiper, BMC Racing's performance manager said.

"This was a whole year of work from a big organisation. This is the pinnacle event, we have worked for that with Richie Porte and it is taken away from you in a flash.

"There is a lot of hope that a lot of people carry, and there is a lot of work that a lot of people have put in, and it's gone just like that."

Team boss Jim Ochowicz gave an update on Porte's situation and was already looking to the future.

"He seems to be OK," he said. "They transported him to Cambrai. We have a vehicle there and we got to pick him up. He will get down to Annecy tonight and probably go home tomorrow with his family [in Monaco].

"He's fine and now we make a new plan. What do we do? Maybe we are looking at the Vuelta a España now. That is not such a bad thing. He is in good form.

"He is going to go home and heal, but again it is not a fracture that is going to keep him out from training for six weeks. He will back on his bike in a couple of days."

The biggest threat to another Team Sky victory in the Tour de France disappeared today when Richie Porte (BMC Racing) fell victim to the famous roads of Paris-Roubaix.

That was the opinion of Sky's Geraint Thomas, who nevertheless expressed concern and sympathy for the Australian after a brutal day on the cobbles.

Porte raced for four seasons with Team Sky and his form for BMC has shown considerable improvement. He won the Tour de Suisse heading into the Tour de France and appeared ready to challenge for his first Grand Tour victory.

The "full gas" day also saw Sky's leader Chris Froome and Mikel Landa (Movistar) fall, although both recovered to finish close to their rivals.

"It was just a series of sprints into every cobble sector, and hard all day from kilometre zero. It was three and a half hours full gas," Thomas said.

"And everyone was there in the end, apart from Richie. It was sad to hear he crashed out. He's a good mate of mine. It's never nice to hear that."

Porte crashed and abandoned even before he even reached the first of 15 cobbled sectors in the  stage. A medical bulletin later confirmed he dislocated his right shoulder – not as bad as in 2017 when he also crashed on stage nine, fracturing his collarbone and pelvis – but enough to rule him out of the stage, and the 2018 Tour.

"It was a stressful day for everyone, I was grateful we got through without any major issues," Froome added. "I had a little bit of a tumble but was grateful to get back and finish with the rest of the GC guys.

"I think most of the GC guys are there. Obviously Richie was the most significant GC guy, and it's never nice to see a mate go down like that, so thoughts go out to him today.

"I don't know how badly injured he is, I hope it's not serous but its always sad to hear that one of the main rivals is out of the race."

The cobbles gave none of the 169 starters any mercy. This year they covered 21.7 kilometres of the famous French pavé used every year in the April monument – the most since 1983 when they used 28.4 kilometres.

Froome fell with team-mate Gianni Moscon with around 45 kilometres remaining, entering the Mons-en-Pévèle, sector eight of 15.

Other incidents took down Mikel Landa and Rigoberto Urán. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) punctured twice. These riders finished in the top four in the 2017 Tour, with Froome on top in Paris.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) continues to lead the race with Thomas in second overall at 43 seconds. Froome is eighth at 1-42.

Landa and Bardet lost seven seconds to Froome today, while Urán lost 1-28.

Sky controlled the race in the important sectors, at least until a series of incidents which included Froome's crash.

"I was directly behind Froome. I saw Gianni go down, I just got around him, I kind of stopped, but got going quickly," Thomas said.

"I had a bit of a gap, but that was all right. It was unlucky to lose Gianni to that crash, Kwiatkowski to another, and Luke [Rowe] punctured, all within two sectors, but that's the way it goes.

"I'm just happy to get through unscathed. I was feeling all right. I was in a good position all the time, so yeah, it was a pretty good day."

Froome, wiping the dust from his sweaty face, looked ahead to a rest day and then more favourable territory in the Alps.

"I think it's a good position to be in. I'm really happy," he said.

"We've done cobbles in the Tour before, so this is not a first for us. Thankfully we've got a recovery day tomorrow and we'll definitely soak that up and make the best of it.

"I'm relieved to get the stage behind us and I'm really looking forward to getting into the mountains now, where the real race will start. I hope to come into the mountains swinging."

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) has abandoned the 2018 Tour de France following a crash in the opening kilometres of stage nine.

Porte, who entered the race in good form following a win at the Tour de Suisse in June, crashed in the first 10 kilometres of the race, before reaching the Paris-Roubaix cobbles which are expected to prove pivotal to the general classification standings.

The 33-year-old sustained an injury to his right shoulder, which is suspected to be a broken collarbone, and was unable to get back on his bike.

It's the Australian's second consecutive Tour abandonment, he crashed in 2017 - also on stage nine - breaking his collarbone and pelvis.

BMC racing has confirmed that Porte is en route to hospital for examination, tweeting: "No one could have imagined this is the way Stage 9 would have started but we still have 7 riders in the race and we are behind them 100% of the way."

Rumours suggest that Porte's Tour performance will decide his salary when he transfers to Trek-Segafredo next year, sources say the team has added a clause to the deal that would have allowed him to earn more if he won the race

Several other riders were involved in the crash, Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) came down but was able to get back up and re-join the race. Movistar domestique José Joaquín Rojas was not so lucky, and joins the list of abandons along with Porte.

The next big day at the Tour de France will be Sunday’s Roubaix stage — that was the prediction of BMC Racing sports director Fabio Baldato after his riders finished safely in the bunch on stage four.

With Greg Van Avermaet in yellow and an ultimate goal of placing Richie Porte on the podium, the team have plenty to think about, with cobbles being at the top of the list.

“The next stage to be attentive is the Roubaix stage,” said Baldato, who insisted the pavé would be no problem for Porte, who finished 17 minutes back while working as a domestique for Team Sky on the Cambrai stage in 2015, which featured seven cobble sections.

>>> Richie Porte: 'There are a lot of guys ready to end Chris Froome's Grand Tour winning streak'

“Once he’s on the stage with the team around him he doesn’t think about it, he’s really positive. I’m confident it will be good,” Baldato said.

Porte currently lies 14th on GC, 51 seconds back. GC contenders ahead of him include Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), third at three seconds, Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), seventh at 11 seconds, and Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac), who despite a scare when he was held up behind a crash on Tuesday, managed to conserve a 35-second gap to yellow.

Watch: Tour de France 2018 preview

Many observers are looking to Thursday’s Mûr de Bretagne stage to spark at little GC action, but Baldato isn’t convinced.

“We’ll go there just to stay in the front,” he said. “It isn’t a case of going there to attack but it is important to remain with the contenders. If you’re not in the front it’s easy to lose 10 or 15 seconds because of a split in the peloton.”

>>> Who's out of the Tour de France after stage four?

He also said that the team would defend Van Avermaet’s yellow jersey but only to a degree. “We will, but we won’t do it for free,” Baldato said. “We’re not going to go crazy to keep it because our main goal is to get Richie on the podium.

“We need to save energy and keep the good momentum,” he added. “Spend energy day by day and don’t give too much so we don’t go all-in just one day and maybe be in trouble afterwards.”

Asked if Porte could win this year he remained cautious: “We hope, we try, that’s the goal. We had trouble on stage one and now we’re almost back, there’s still some guys ahead of us, but we’re at least close to Froome and other riders.”

Australian Richie Porte is competing in the 2018 Tour de France at the moment aiming to give BMC Racing a parting gift, and potentially earn a huge salary boost with new team Trek-Segafredo.

An inside source close to the deal confirmed it to Cycling Weekly, "It's done. Richie is riding with Trek in 2019."

Porte could earn around €1.5 million to perhaps €2.5 million if he wins the Tour de France. Trek-Segafredo has a clause in its deal that will allow Porte to earn more if he wins the French Grand Tour this July.

He earned an estimated €2.2 million with BMC Racing.

The deal will be announced after the official date, August 1, given by the UCI governing body for signing new riders. The team would not confirm the move or the Australian's salary when asked by Cycling Weekly on the ground at the Tour.

Porte spent four years helping Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome in Team Sky and joined BMC Racing in 2017. Both last year and this year, insiders named him as a top favourite to win the Tour de France. Last year, he crashed on stage nine and fractured collarbone and pelvis. This year, he is ready again with a victory in the Tour de Suisse before arriving in Vendée.

Trek-Segafredo's current Tour leader Bauke Mollema has a contact that ends, but he will stay with the team. "He didn't have a problem helping [Alberto] Contador in the years before and he works well with other leaders," said a source. "He will stay and race alongside Richie, or different races when they have chances."

Porte's team-mate and fellow Australian Rohan Dennis will not join the team as well from BMC Racing. Dennis, winner of a stage and pink jersey wearer in the Giro d'Italia in May, will switch to Bahrain-Merida.

The Porte move is almost the last of the big classification rider transfers on tap for the 2018/2019 season. The Yates twins Adam and Simon are said to have renewed with Mitchelton-Scott already, but are waiting to announce the deal.

Geraint Thomas is staying with Sky, explained a couple of sources close to Sky and the Welshman. The British super team are already giving him greater responsibilities in this 2018 Tour de France, especially after Froome lost 51 seconds on the first day.

Thomas was hoping to have a deal announced already, but the lawyers are combing over the fine print that could see his salary bumped to around €2.5 million.

Greg Van Avermaet, the Belgian Olympic champion and Paris-Roubaix winner, remains the big move to be sorted. He like others is searching for options with the team now known as BMC Racing facing an uncertain future. The BMC bike manufacturer is leaving the team, but general manager Jim Ochowicz keeps searching for a new backer while his riders search for other options.

Van Avermaet apparently had an option with former Astana manager Marc Biver. Biver's brother Jean-Claude is the CEO of TAG Heuer, the sponsor still confirmed with Ochowicz for 2019 along with the WorldTour licence.

Biver, however, put off the project until 2020 with backers not ready to get the deal rolling in 2019. It closed a possible door for Belgian Van Avermaet and now it appears more likely that he could follow BMC bikes to Dimension Data and form the Classics arm with Mark Cavendish, if he stays, leading the sprint arm.

"You can't say we can't find a sponsor for next year, we are not there yet," Ochowicz said. "We just haven't done it up to this point, today's date."

He is hoping to make the most out of the Tour. "Of course, it's global publicity. It's a global stage and that's' whey people want to sponsor."

Chris Froome will face no shortage of opposition at the Tour de France from other GC contenders aiming to end his 12-month Grand Tour winning streak, according to one of the men who should be in contention for the yellow jersey - Richie Porte.

Froome's personal friend and former team-mate, Porte says that if Team Sky's Froome shows one moment of weakness, perhaps suffering from fatigue from his Giro d'Italia win, then his rivals will pounce.

Froome won the 2017 Tour de France, before going on to win the 2017 Vuelta a España and, just two months ago, the 2018 Giro d'Italia. He now lines up for a record equalling fifth Tour title and a shot at the Giro/Tour double that has not been achieved since 1998.

"He's here with the goal of winning it, and he's probably done the right work to do that," Porte explained at a press conference two days ahead of the Tour's Grand Depart in the Vendée region.

"Like I said before, I hope he is tired. Guys like Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana are not going to give him an easy day, that could also happen out on the road. If he does have a bad day, there are quite a few guys ready to end his winning streak."

Froome pulled off a historic Giro d'Italia win in May, becoming the first British rider to win and doing so with a lengthy 80km solo attack on stage 19. He has not raced since he won the spiral trophy in Rome on May 27.

"It was nice to watch him in the Giro and hope he's buggered!" Porte continued. "He might be!"

Watch: Tour de France 2018 preview

Only a handful riders in the history of cycling have won the Giro and Tour in same year, and with the sport's increasing specialisation in recent year, few even try.

Italian Marco Pantani last won the Giro and Tour in the same 1998 season, becoming the seventh man to do so. Since, Spaniard Alberto Contador tried in 2011 and Nairo Quintana in 2017.

"Since Pantani it hasn't been done. I was here in 2011 with Alberto Contador, who crushed it in the Giro and was fifth which is nothing to sneeze at, but couldn't back it up in the Tour," Porte said.

"Chris was at the Giro with a strong team and here in the Tour with arguably a stronger team. If anyone is able to do it, then perhaps him. I know that team after riding there for four years."

Porte knows Froome well, having raced for Team Sky from 2012 to 2015 and still regularly training with Froome in the hills above Mondao.

He laughed at the recent data released about Froome losing weight in the first two weeks of the Giro to be ready for the third and a shot at a fifth Tour title.

"I think it's fake news. Maybe they put it out there and hope that guys read that and under-fuel," Porte said.

"We are all professional athletes and know how to fuel. We don't need to read online to see how Sky's doing it, I've been doing this long enough to know what to eat."

Porte improved since leaving Sky to look for his own space at BMC Racing. Last year, a brutal downhill crash on stage nine resulting in a fractured collarbone and pelvis, saw him abandon. This year, he is again a pre-race favourite having won the Tour de Suisse. He appears ready, thin with cheekbones visible and arms like twigs.

"The other favourites? Jakob Fuglsang surprised me, he was incredible in the last time trial and also in that uphill finish in the Tour de Suisse, he was right there with me that day and he was super. Geraint Thomas and Romain Bardet also looked good in the Critérium du Dauphiné.

"But it's a tricky one. You can't get transfixed on one guy. There are so many twists and turns in the Tour, I don't think there's one favourite overall.

"I don't know if I'm the lightest yet, the goal is always to not come here not on fumes. I've come to the Tour before on fumes as well as in the Giro 2015, worrying too much about weight. The first nine days is not where you weight is, it's probably better to get through the race healthy."

Richie Porte, Greg Van Avermaet and Wout Van Aert are close to securing deals for 2019, which could see them leaving their current 2018 teams.

Riders are confirming their contracts for 2019 now even if the official date for signing and announcing new deals starts on August 1.

>>> Tour de France 2018 start list

"BMC Racing, I heard they have about 60 per cent of the budget needed to continue the team under a different name," said one source.

"The problem is, riders like Porte, Van Avermaet, and [Rohan] Dennis are getting nervous, wondering if Jim Ochowicz will come through with the money and in the meantime, if the other teams making them offers will wait. It's a nervous time."

General manager Jim Ochowicz gave his riders a deadline last week for him to get the funding in place to continue the team, but the riders reportedly have yet to hear a confirmation.

BMC is pulling out after a long 12-year run. Ochowicz knew already, working hard to confirm sponsorship over the last year to keep one of cycling's biggest teams rolling into 2019.

It may be too late. He could be losing his star riders; the bait to attack the big catch.

BMC's contribution was big, with a rumoured payout of around €25 million for the 2018 season. Ochowicz needs plenty to continue with Van Avermaet, 2017 Paris-Roubaix victor, and recent Tour de Suisse winner Porte.

"Porte is definitely close to Trek," said another source, commenting on a piece that appeared on Cyclingnews. Porte reportedly already signed a three-year deal with Trek-Segafredo.

Tejay van Garderen, fifth twice in the Tour de France, could be heading home to EF Education First-Drapac. After suffering in recent years, it is unsure if he would race for the classification in Grand Tours or help riders like Michael Woods. In the 2018 Tour, the American will throw his support behind Porte.

Van Avermaet may be too rich for many people's taste. The talented Belgian, winner of the 2016 Olympic road race, will pull in €2 to 3 million euro, but needs support men and staff – an operation that many teams cannot afford.

BMC Bicycles is already rumoured to be supplying Dimension Data in 2019, with current supplier Cervélo going to Team Sunweb with Tom Dumoulin.

Now, Van Avermaet may also be going along to the South African WorldTour team. It would depend on the budget the team has, if it can afford riders like Mark Cavendish and new hires like the Belgian star.

Bahrain-Merida had been trying to sign Van Avermaet, but may instead bring in emerging Belgian talent Wout Van Aert.

The Veranda's Willems-Crelan rider, a three-time cyclocross world champion, soared through his first go at the Classics in 2018. The 23-year-old placed third in Strade Bianche, ninth in the Tour of Flanders and 13th in Paris-Roubaix.

"Van Aert we've always liked, we've been speaking with him and his agent since the Classics this year, but he has a contract through 2019 so it's complicated," Bahrain-Merida general manager Brent Copeland told Cycling Weekly.

"Even if he wants to concentrate on cyclocross, we feel that he wants to move over to the WorldTour. Honestly, I think it's going to be more 2020 than 2019, it'll be difficult for him to leave the contract he's in at the movement. I'm not saying it's impossible for 2019, though."

"I want to make the decision soon," Van Aert told VTM. "I want a strong team, even if I stay where I am. It's really an important decision I'm going to make."

Rohan Dennis, stage winner and wearer of the pink jersey in the 2018 Giro d'Italia, could also leave BMC Racing to join Bahrain-Merida. Copeland would not confirm the move, but it is said to be done.

The Yates twins, Adam and Simon, will stay with Mitchelton-Scott. UAE Team Emirates, with Dan Martin and Fabio Aru, made a "big offer" according to one source, but Englishmen will remain with Australian team they first joined from the amateurs.

Richie Porte will be backed-up by a "strong and experienced" set of riders at the Tour de France 2018, as he finally looks to land a Grand Tour victory.

Porte has shown fine form in the build-up to the Tour, thriving in the week long stage races as he has done throughout his a career, including winning the Tour de Suisse earlier this month.

He enters the Tour with the tough task of stopping Chris Froome and Team Sky's victorious run at the race, with Movistar among the other teams fielding a very strong line-up. Porte looked in strong form during last year's race, but abandoned the race after a huge crash on the descent of the Mont du Chat on stage nine.

The 33-year-old will be supported by a formidable looking team for this year though, with Olympic road race champion Greg Van Avermaet the stand-out name in the BMC line-up.

Two-time fifth place finisher at the Tour Tejay van Garderen will also take to the start in support of Porte, as well will veteran Australian rider Simon Gerrans, who joined the team at the beginning of this year.

Italian Damiano Caruso, who finished fifth overall at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné, will play a pivotal role in the mountains for Porte deeper into the race.

The American team, who regularly dominate team time trials like the one that features on stage three of this year's Tour, bring a strong unit of Swiss duo Stefan Küng and Michael Schär as well as New Zealand's Patrick Bevin to complete the squad.

"I'm ready for the Tour de France," said Porte.

"Winning the Tour de Suisse was a big boost to my confidence, not only on a personal level knowing I wasn't yet in my best shape but also for the team.

"The guys were fantastic there and the fact that our Tour de France team is comprised more or less of the same riders, with the addition of Damiano Caruso and Paddy Bevin, is really motivating.

"After a solid training camp at altitude, I will arrive in the Vendée region knowing I have done everything I can to prepare for the Tour de France."

"I would love to stand on the podium in Paris," he continued.

"As we saw last year, anything can happen so as cliché as it sounds, I really will be taking things day by day, week by week.

"As controlled as the Tour de France is compared to other races, it's a bike race and with that comes a lot of unpredictability. I think we have a great team, it's generally a good course for me, and I'm excited to start racing."

BMC Racing line-up for Tour de France 2018

Richie Porte (Aus)

Patrick Bevin (NZl)

Damiano Caruso (Ita)

Simon Gerrans (Aus)

Stefan Küng (Sui)

Michael Schär (Sui)

Greg Van Avermaet (Bel)

Tejay van Garderen (USA)

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) sealed overall victory at the 2018 Tour de Suisse after the final stage time trial, as his team-mate Stefan Küng took stage victory.

Küng was the only rider on the day to clock a time of less than 40 minutes over the 34.1km course, with the Swiss time trial champion finishing 19 seconds ahead of second place Søren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb).

In the overall, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was unable to make any gains on the 17 second gap to race leader Richie Porte, losing 55 seconds to the Australian on the day and dropping down to third overall.

Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) made the biggest gains on the day, jumping from sixth on GC to second after a strong ride to finish eighth on the stage.

How it happened

After eight tough stages this week in the final WorldTour stage race before the Tour de France, the riders of the Tour de Suisse faced one last test with a fairly flat 34.1km time trial.

With a stage win up for grabs for the time trial specialists and potential movement in for the GC riders in the top-10, there was a lot to play for on the final day.

Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) set the early benchmark for the day, powering along the course to a decent time of 40-10.

The Pole's time stood for some time until stage six winner Kragh Andersen powered to a time of 40-03, and it looked like the young Dane could be in with a chance of taking a second victory at the race.

Out on course however, two BMC riders in Tejay van Garderen and Stefan Küng looked like they could be in with a chance of setting the new best time.

Van Garderen came close, setting a time of 40-07 after fading slightly in the latter part of the course. Küng however, continued to look faster and faster as his effort went on, and he was able to cross the line with the first sub-40 minute time of 39-45.

That put the Swiss time trial champion in the hot seat with just the GC contenders to come and potentially usurp him.

None really came close though. Jakob Fuglsang performed the best of the riders in the top-10, finishing with a time 40-22 and moving into -- overall.

That move in overall for Fuglsang was in part thanks to Quintana, just 17 seconds down on Porte at the start of the day, third place Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and fifth place Sam Oomen (Sunweb), who all failed to put in a performance to potentially worry anyone above them.

Enric Mas (Quick-Step), was able to hold onto his fourth place overall after a solid ride, but saw Fuglsang move above him thanks to his strong ride.

Mikel Landa (Movistar), who rode well alongside Quintana during the mountain stages of the race, put in a dismal time trial effort to lose around 2-30 and drop to 16th overall.

Porte was the last rider to come in with a 40-48; enough to comfortably hold on to the overall and also confirm his team-mate Küng as winner of the final time trial.

Results

Tour de Suisse 2018, stage nine: Bellinzona - Bellinzona (34.1km)

1 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team, in 39-44

2 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb, at 19s

3 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 23s

4 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora - Hansgrohe, at 26s

5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb, at 26s

6 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky, at 37s

7 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton - Scott, same time

8 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team, at 38s

9 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb, at 44s

10 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team, at 46s

Final general classification

1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team, in 29-28-05

2 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team, at 1-02

3 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team, at 1:12

4 Enric Mas Nicolau (Esp) Quick Step Floors, at 1-20

5 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 1-21

6 Simon Špilak (Slo) Team Katusha - Alpecin, at 1-47

7 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 1-52

8 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNL - Jumbo, at 1-59

9 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, at 2-27

10 Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama - FDJ, at 2-41

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) has withdrawn from Tirreno-Adriatico, which starts in Italy on Wednesday, due to an upper respiratory tract infection which he picked up at the Volta ao Algarve.

According to his team, Porte fell ill after the Portuguese race, which finished on February 18, forcing him to miss a week of training ahead of one of the biggest races of his spring calendar.

"Richie Porte developed an upper respiratory infection after Volta ao Algarve which forced him to miss the best part of a week's training, said Dr Max Testa, BMC Racing's chief medical officer.

>>> Five things to look out for at Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico

"Given Tirreno-Adriatico was one of Richie's goal races this season, it did not make sense to line up when his preparation was far from ideal.

"Richie and the BMC Racing Team management and medical team agreed that it was in his best interests to miss Tirreno-Adriatico and adjust his race program, in order to recover properly."

After Tirreno-Adriatico, Porte was not scheduled to race again until the Tour du Finestère in mid-April, however his withdrawal from Tirreno-Adriatico could see him tempted by another week-long stage race, such as the Volta a Catalunya, which starts in eastern Spain on March 25.

Watch: WorldTour bikes 2018

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AntnS1WXA4

With Porte absent, BMC will now turn to Damiano Caruso and Rohan Dennis to challenge for high position in the general classification, with Dennis having finished second behind Nairo Quintana in 2017.

"I'm looking forward to going back to Tirreno-Adriatico next week," Dennis said. "One main goal of the team will be to win the opening team time trial again, and we are motivated to do that. For me, the individual time trial will, of course, be another target and I hope to repeat my success from last year. In between the two, we will see what happens.

>>> Tour de France planning to stp use of podium girls

Even without Porte, the Tirreno-Adriatico start list is still packed full of major GC riders, all looking to use the week-long race to continue their build up towards the season's Grand Tours.

Among those on the start list will be Chris Froome (Team Sky), Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), while the likes of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) will be using the event as preparation for Milan-San Remo.

With most races taking part in the middle of the night, it can't be easy being an Australian cycling fan, but that hasn't stopped one Aussie farmer becoming such a big fan of Richie Porte that he decided to create a maze in the BMC Racing rider's honour.

Rowan Clark is the owner of Rupertswood Farm near Hagley in Porte's home state of Tasmania said that he had been planning the maze for a number of years.

"‘I have been thinking of a Richie Maze for some years now," Clark said. "We are huge fans and love watching him race, particularly in July when the Tour de France is on."

"Richie is a great role model…always presents himself with spirit, courage and dignity…even under enormous amounts of pressure. Plus Richie seems like just a really nice guy."

>>> Watch: Mark Cavendish makes one young fan's day at the Tour of Britain

The maze has been designed by a maze design business called Mazescape, which is based in Weston-super-Mare, and is intended to show Porte leading the peloton up the Alps in the Tour de France.

The design apparently took Clark eight hours to mow into his crop, and suitably also includes a bike track for people to ride around the outside of the maze. There is also the choice of a "mini maze" around Porte's front wheel, or the main maze through the rest of the design.

The maze also pleased Porte himself, with the rider saying that he was impressed by the "incredible detail" as he gave the Tasmanian farm a nice bit of publicity by sharing details of the maze on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/richieporteofficial/posts/1838574909499598

The maze will open to the public on February 24, while Porte will start his season at the Volta ao Algarve, which starts on February 14, as he begins his preparation for the Tour de France in July.

Cycling will be the loser if Chris Froome is not on the start line of the 2018 Tour de France in Noirmoutier-en-l'Île on July 7, according to the Brit's friend and rival Richie Porte.

Speaking after finishing second in the Tour Down Under on Sunday, Porte said that he was looking forward to another crack at the Tour after crashing out in 2017, and that there would be other rivals to take on if the outcome of an anti-doping investigation into Froome means he cannot start in July.

>>> It would be easier for everyone if Team Sky suspended Froome, says UCI boss

"There's still a lot of water that has to flow under the bridge," was Porte's response when asked by French newspaper L'Equipe if he thought Froome would be able to ride the Tour de France in July.

"It will not be good for cycling if the defending champion is not there, but there will always be other opponents, starting with Romain Bardet, and Vincenzo Nibali, who has already won nearly everything."

Watch: Tour de France 2018 route guide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaCHePwsEuk

Froome is currently under investigation after delivering an adverse analytical finding for high levels of salbutamol at the 2017 Vuelta a España, but has not been suspended due to the nature of the substance, raising the possibility that he could race the Tour with the investigation still ongoing.

Froome has denied breaking anti-doping rules which allow athletes to take a maximum of 800mg of salbutamol per 12 hours, and, with Team Sky's backing, has vowed to clear his name.

>>> Everything you need to know about Chris Froome's salbutamol case

Porte also revealed that a new addition to his family will mean that he will follow a different race programme in preparation for the Tour, racing the Tour de Suisse and Tirreno-Adriatico rather than the Critérium du Dauphiné and Paris-Nice, where he struggled in the wind and rain in 2017.

"My wife and I are expecting a baby by the end of May. To fully enjoy this moment, I will postpone my return to competition in the Tour de Suisse, which I have never ridden, and I will wait until next year to win the Dauphiné.

"I'm also changing my spring schedule. I love Paris-Nice, but after the Tour of Algarve, I want to challenge Froome and Nibali in Tirreno-Adriatico."

Richie Porte (BMC Racing) has backed himself for a career defining season following a crash that ended his Tour de France title bid against Chris Froome last year.

Porte opened his 2018 account at the Tour Down Under on Saturday, winning the queen stage atop Willunga Hill for the fifth consecutive year.

The defending champion had banked on his trademark attack to secure overall victory but didn’t bet on dark horse Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), who finished second to tie with Porte on overall time and now leads the race on countback.

Porte was gracious in victory and defeat behind the podium where he spoke with press, looking much further afield than the final podium of the WorldTour opener.

“I had a tough end of last year so to be up here and win Willunga for a fifth time in a row, I have to say I’m happy but of course I would have loved to win the overall,” Porte said.

The 32-year-old was billed as Froome’s greatest challenger at the Tour de France last year, but crashed out of stage nine with a broken collarbone and pelvis.

Watch: Tour Down Under stage five highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy_N7l5lwC0

The Tour Down Under has doubled as the Australian’s return to stage racing following the high-speed collision and tedious recovery.

“I have a fantastic bunch of people around me, from my team to wife and family,” he said.

“It has been a tough time, it was a nasty crash, it knocked me around, but I think I can have maybe the best season of my career, and I’m motivated for that.”

Porte sits second in a tie-break with Impey, which is unlikely to change in the final flat stage of the race in downtown Adelaide on Sunday.

“Daryl is quick, he’s been second two times in the stages here against guys like [Peter] Sagan so realistically I don’t really have a chance to move up” he said.

“If I start going then Caleb Ewan and guys like this are going to go for the intermediates too. I’m happy with where I am all things considered.”

Richie Porte won stage five of the Tour Down Under atop Willunga Hill for the fifth successive year - but it was Daryl Impey who moved into the overall lead with just one day remaining.

BMC Racing's Porte was the undoubted favourite to win the race's crucial and most iconic stage, and in truth no other rider liked like they could dethrone him as the king of Willunga Hill, winning by eight seconds from Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) and 10 seconds ahead of third-placed Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data).

Porte attacked with 1,500m remaining, but faced an anxious wait to see if he had moved into the race's lead. Results after the stage confirmed that he had not, with Impey - who was second on GC before the stage and had 12 seconds advantage to Porte - rolling across the line eight seconds behind Porte, who collected four seconds for winning the stage.

Although level on time, Impey's second-placed finishes on stage two and four meant that he secured the leader's jersey on countback, and with just a sprint stage left, it looks as if the South African will become the race's 2018 victor.

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How it unfolded

Following stage four's failure to ignite the GC battle after Peter Sagan tamed a climb to sprint to victory, the Queen stage of the race prompted a lot of excitement among the riders, and seven riders escaped the peloton once the flag was raised in McLaren Vale.

Lotto-Soudal's breakaway specialist Thomas De Gendt was joined by three of the race's most prominent figures this week, Zak Dempster and Scott Bowden from Uni SA-Australia and Nicholas Dlamini from Dimension Data. Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin), Nuno Bico (Movistar) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek-Segafredo) were also among the break.

The importance of the stage meant that the break were always kept within reasonable distance to the peloton, and their lead, although it stretched out over five minutes briefly, was otherwise kept within four minutes.

The course included an ascent of Willunga Hill 22km before the finish, doubling up as the stage's King of the Mountain. When the climbing begun at 25km to the finish, Dlamini, Dempster and De Gendt distanced their breakaway companions.

De Gendt beat Dlamini to the KOM (although Dlamini secured the overall KOM jersey) and then attacked over the crest, moving into a lone lead. He powered down the descent at speeds north of 90 kmh and moved into a 55 second lead, but the Belgian was eventually reeled back in, ensuring that the climbers would have their day in South Australia.

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The peloton threatened to splinter on the approach to the  second ascent of the climb, but a group of around 80 riders remained intact. BMC Racing, who have showed strength in numbers this week, were absent when Porte drifted off into gravel; fortunately for the 32-year-old, he wasn't in too much trouble.

As the climb ramped upwards for the final time, Bora-Hansgrohe and LottoNL-Jumbo went to the head of the peloton, but the headwinds - which were notching around 25kmh - were preventing the prospect of early attacks.

BMC returned to their collective force to lead for a brief period, with Team Sky looking after Egan Bernal. At 2.5km to go, Sagan looked in pain and sat up, slowly drifting through the back of the lead group and relinquishing his lead in the race.

Rohan Dennis set a furious pace and Porte made his expected move at 1.5km, taking Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) with him. For a moment, it looked as if both Australians would ride off one another's wheel, but Porte finally distanced McCarthy.

Porte continued to dig deeper, looking to locate the required seconds needed to take the leader's jersey, and Bernal leapt off the group under the flamme rouge to try and close down Porte.

As Porte rode off into the distance passed by a deep crowd, Impey impressively passed many of the race's strongest climbers and finished eight seconds behind Porte, making sure it was he who inherited the Ochre jersey from Sagan ahead of the final stage in Adelaide.

Results

Tour Down Under 2018, stage five: McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill, 151.5km

1. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing, in 3-42-22

2. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott, at 8 secs

3. Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data, at 10 secs

4. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors

5. Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky

6. Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida

7. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE-Team Emirates, all at same time

8. Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 14 secs

9. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida

10. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo, all at same time

General classification after stage five

1. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott, in 18-02-15

2. Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing, at same time

3. Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data, at 16 secs

4. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE-Team Emirates, at 20 secs

5. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors

6. Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky

7. Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida, all at same time

8. Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 24 secs

9. George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo

10. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Bahrain-Merida, all at same time

Richie Porte will attempt to become the first rider to win consecutive Tour Down Under titles, armed with a cracking supporting cast of past champions in his BMC team.

The 32-year-old broke his twice bridesmaid status at the race last year and is motivated to take a career second ochre jersey in Adelaide, Australia.

Porte has the strongest team on paper and will be able to call on 2015 winner Rohan Dennis as well as four-time race champion Simon Gerrans during the six-stage event.

The trio, along with former Australian national road champion Miles Scotson, fronted the media on the eve of the race to talk tactics, and new BMC supplements partner Swisse.

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The first WorldTour race of the season will mark Porte’s return to stage racing following a crash in stage nine of the Tour de France last year in which he fractured his clavicle and pelvis.

The recovery from that seems a distant memory and the Australian’s form appears to match his motivation.

Porte claimed bronze at his national time trial championships earlier this month and easily kept in touch with the main field in the ensuing road race in which he was 14th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkSnr6l5bKA

He also took confidence from a hit-out at the People’s Choice Classic prelude criterium on Sunday.

“[I had] good sensations last night but I’ve got a fantastically strong team here as well, so I’m super motivated and looking forward to kicking the season off proper tomorrow,” he said.

“Simon and I we were talking about it the other day, nobody has gone back-to-back. Simon has won it sort of every second year but of course it would be nice motivation to go back-to-back.

>>> Tour Down Under 2018: Latest news, reports and race info

“But I think it’s easy to be motivated here for this race. It’s one of the best races on the calendar.”

Porte, however, will still have his challengers.

Three-time world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) rolled through the tour last year but fired an early warning shot to the competition, claiming the prelude criterium on the weekend.

The 2018 Tour Down Under starts on Tuesday, January 16, and concludes on Sunday, January 21.

Six months on from crashing out of the Tour de France in a terrifying fall on the descent from the Mont du Chat, Richie Porte has been looking back at the high-speed crash and the road to recovery.

Porte crashed on the final descent of stage nine into Chambery, losing control of his bike at more than 70kmh, hitting rocks at the side of the road and breaking his collarbone and pelvis in the process.

"On the day of the crash I had a bit of a problem with my bike but I’m a professional cyclist and I know my bike and my capabilities," the Australian told The Mercury.

"I remember touching the brake before the camera picked me up so the rear of the bike had already locked up, and when the camera got to me it looked like I was on a bad line. But it’s not how it was. I remember the split second decision — there was a wall there or hit the little grass verge.

"I had time to let go of the brakes to let the bike try to correct itself but as soon as I touched them again to get around the corner the same thing happened."

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Porte praised the work of the Tour's doctors who were quickly at his side on the narrow descent, working to assess him for any possible spinal or head injury while riders, cars, and motorbikes flew past at high speed.

However Porte's thoughts also turn to Dan Martin, lying fourth overall at the start of the day, who had the misfortune to be descending behind the BMC Racing rider at the time of the crash, also hitting the tarmac and suffering two fractured vertebrae in the process. Martin soldiered on through the pain, eventually finishing sixth overall in Paris.

"To be honest with you, it still hurts me that I took Dan Martin down with me, he was having a blinder of a Tour and got fractured vertebrae, and he’s a guy I respect so that hurts," Porte said.

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Speaking in the week after crashing out of the race, Porte described the Tour de France route as "a joke of a course", questioning whether organisers would be happy to see their family members tackle the same descent, sentiments that he clearly still holds.

"I wouldn’t say I’m a risk- taker, I prefer to go uphill and being a fan of the sport I’d rather see a race finish on top of a mountain, but it’s part of the sport,” he continued.

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"It’s a part of cycling, a spectacle, but if the race organisers had a son or a daughter in it would they be happy to send them down a descent like that? Maybe not.

"They’re making Grand Tours harder and more dangerous and at the end of the day I’ve still got my wife at home, my mum and dad and brothers at home in Tassie [Tasmania] not knowing what the hell had happened."

Porte is currently in Australia preparing to defend his title at the Tour Down Under, which starts in Adelaide on January 16. He should return to the Tour de France in July where he could face strong competition with both Chris Froome and Tom Dumoulin likely to be among the other contenders for the yellow jersey.