Richie Porte

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Richie Porte at the 2016 Tour Down Under

Richie Porte at the 2016 Tour Down Under

Nationality: Australian

Height: 172cm

Weight: 63kg

Team: Trek-Segafredo

Twitter: @richie_porte

Richie Porte: 2019 season

Once again he returned to his home nation and won the queen stage at the Tour Down Under. He also finished second on GC. Form was questionable as he went into that years tour with a 5th position at the Tour of California and 11th at the Dauphiné.

His team lost 1-18 on Jumbo-Visma during the TTT, leaving Porte to spend the entire race trying to chase back time. He eventually finished 11th, slipping out of the top ten on the final mountain stage.

Richie Porte: 2018 season

Richie Porte abandoned the Tour de France on stage nine that year, after crashing in the opening 10 kilometres of the Paris-Roubaix style stage - before reaching the cobbles.

Thanks to a clause written into his contract, this will impact his 2019 salary, when he moves to his new team - Trek-Segafredo.

The Australian rider demonstrated that his fitness was on track for success at the Tour de France, with a win of the general classification at the popular preparation choice, the Tour de Suisse.

Porte moved into the top spot after following an attack on stage five, keeping hold of the yellow jersey to the end.

Porte fished second on the GC at the Tour Down Under, actually finishing neck and neck with victor Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), who was awarded the overall win following three second place finishes.

Richie Porte: 2017 season

Porte has been tipped as one of the key contenders for the Tour de France general classification.

In 2016, riding for BMC, he began sharing leadership with Tejay van Garderen, but it was decided he should take sole leadership half way through. The Australian placed fifth overall, despite fighting to regain time after a mechanical.

The 2017 Tour de France saw BMC give Porte the leadership from the start and after a thrilling Critérium du Dauphiné, which saw him lose the overall on the last day by just 10 bonus seconds to Jakob Fuglsang.

He went into the race in the best condition of his life - though a cautious start on the very wet roads of the opening time trial meant he started 47 seconds down on the GC on day two.

Porte held a similar position on GC, until stage five - when a summit finish split the key GC contenders. The Australian rider was on the right side of the split, moving into fifth place. However, a crash on stage nine put him out of the race - a disappointing end to a Tour many fans had him pipped to win.

Richie Porte: career to date

Porte began racing in 2006 after quitting triathlon and quickly progressed as one of the professional peloton’s most gifted riders. A ninth place finish in the 2008 Tour Down Under signalled his emergence in the sport, and preceded a move to Australian team Praties.

Porte’s sudden rise up the general classifications and against the clock earned him his first professional contract with Team Saxo-Bank for the 2010 and 2011 season. Porte quickly made an impression, winning the Tour de Romandie TT.

The 2010 Giro d’Italia was Porte’s first experience at a Grand Tour, taking the race lead for three successive stages from stage eleven. Porte’s eventual seventh place on the GC won him the young rider's classification.

2011 did not replicate the GC heights of the previous year, instead his season’s highs confined to races against the clock. Selected once more for the Giro, Porte disappointed with an 81st placed finish overall. Porte made his Tour de France debut in 2011 and came fifth in the Tour’s only TT.

Team Sky signed Porte for 2012 and his results improved, winning the Volta ao Algarve courtesy of a victory on stage three and third place in the final day’s TT.

At the Tour de Romandie he placed fourth overall in support of Bradley Wiggins. As a domestique to Wiggins in his successful quest to win the 2012 Tour, Porte was widely praised for his efforts.

In the spring of 2013, Porte won Paris-Nice - his biggest victory to date. At the ensuing Criterium International, Porte won the TT and came second on the race’s third and final day in Corscia to earn a Team Sky one-two behind Froome.

At the Tour, Porte worked tirelessly to help Froome claim overall honours, Froome repeatedly pointing to Porte’s efforts in leading him up the mountains as key to his victory.

Illness took its toll on Porte's performance in 2014. When Porte took over Sky team leadership at the Tour de France after Froome crashed out, he failed to replicate his performance from the previous year. In stark contrast, Porte started 2015 strongly, winning key stages of the Tour Down Under and Volta ao Algarve before two stage wins and the overall in Paris-Nice.

But 2015 quickly turned sour for the Australian, who abandoned the Giro d'Italia after losing more than 27 minutes on stage 15. Porte had crashed and finished 2:08 back on stage 13 and lost more than four minutes in the stage 14 time trial, having already been penalised by two minutes for an illegal wheel change on stage 10, when countryman Simon Clarke offered Porte his wheel after a puncture.

Porte's loss was Froome's gain, though, and the Tasmanian was back to his best as a super domestique in the Tour de France, marshalling Froome's second maillot jaune, finishing second to his team leader on the summit finish at La-Pierre-Saint-Martin on stage 10 as Froome opened up what would prove to be an unassailable lead thanks to the work of Porte.

But, despite (or perhaps because of) being part of a Tour de France-winning team for the third time in four years, the Tasmanian was keen to get his own chance as team leader and left Team Sky for BMC Racing in August. Porte got off the mark for his new team quickly, soloing to victory on the queen stage of the Tour Down Under in January to lay an down early marker for the rest of the season.

With initial excitement at how BMC was set up at the Tour in 2016, with Tejay van Garderen also looking for GC opportunities, it became apparent it couldn't work as Porte took over sole leadership halfway through the race. Finishing fifth overall, the Australian had worked hard to get back into the race's contention after some poor luck saw he mechanical early on, dropping down the leaderboard.

Bad luck has been the story of Porte's career. He has clearly had the raw power and tactical nous to win a Grand Tour, but has either lacked the team support or suffered from a crash or mechanical at a critical moment.

>>> Richie Porte results and rider profile

Major results: 2016 Tour Down Under | 2015 Volta a Catalunya | 2015 Paris-Nice | 2013 Paris Nice

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