At one point in the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné it looked as if Richie Porte (BMC) was back in the Team Sky fold, colluding with Chris Froome at the bottom of the final climb.

But by the top of the ascent to Superdévoluy, the Australian will be regretting getting himself surrounded with Sky riders as it ultimately cost him a place on the final podium in the prestigious race.

With less than a kilometre to go to the summit Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) launched an attack to try and gain some bonus seconds, followed by Porte’s nearest rival for second place Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale).

But Porte tried to follow them from the other side of the road, where he was side-by-side with Froome and behind his Sky teammates Sergio Henao and Mikel Landa, who didn’t follow the attack.

The result was that Porte was inadvertently boxed in by the Sky trio, with Froome almost riding into one of his teammates, even further delaying Porte.

In the end, the bonus seconds for Martin and Bardet, and the five-second time gap back to Porte, was enough for the pair to move above the Australian and on to the podium.

It was hard luck for the former Sky man, but his performances throughout the week at the Dauphiné have shown that he should provide strong competition to Froome and the others at the Tour de France.