Hont
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And remember that he dragged Froome back to the head of the race more or less on his own. That's not a job he has to do if he's leader.
Richie Porte
- Thread starter jowwy
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Froome was at the front all day pretty much, Porte didn't have enough gas in the tank and I don't think he did any work of significance for Froome. He just got caught cold by Garmin and Movistar. IIRC.
no way - he went and burried himself on numerous occassions for froome and also helped him out when a gel of two was needed
Pro Tour Punditry
Guru
Why are you all blabbering about stage 9 as of significance? It was stage 8 that Porte buried himself and did the work of an entire team. He was wasted in stage 9 due to his efforts. As a leader of the team he would not be carrying out that role.
Wrong stage mate.
No stage was mentioned. I stated on numerous occassions
Sir Dave B stated a few times last year, that Sky had so many team leaders available to them that they were lucky. He said that any one from 8 were able/capable to lead, so do you think that he's keeping the likes of Richie P sweet, by giving him a go, or is DB doing this for another reason? and all part of the progression plan for the team.
Hont
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Unfortunately I don't think your recollection is correct. Porte dragged the peloton back together on the second climb, went into the red as a consequence and lost touch with the leaders...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-france-2013/stage-9/result
"...on the second climb, the Col de Menté...Porte was dropped after he had helped the maillot jaune try and restore some semblance of order to the early anarchy."
Nit picking aside, the relevant point is that Porte would almost certainly not have been dropped if he had not done the work he did for Froome on that stage and the previous one. I would argue that he did not have a Jour Sans either, as evidenced by the fact that he held the Movistar led peloton at 2 minutes for 50Km more or less on his own (see same link above).
oldroadman
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you know, reading this stuff, anyone would think that GT's are the be all and end all of racing. It's a long season with plenty of races. There are numbers of riders who can win classics, shorter stage races, perform consistently over s whole season, and still everyone is obsessed with a couple of races. Richie Porte is very talented and could be a very good GT rider as a leader. He could alos win a dozen other races and I suspect it would go without notice by some people.
Like his paris nice win last season - dont think hes a classics rider thoughyou know, reading this stuff, anyone would think that GT's are the be all and end all of racing. It's a long season with plenty of races. There are numbers of riders who can win classics, shorter stage races, perform consistently over s whole season, and still everyone is obsessed with a couple of races. Richie Porte is very talented and could be a very good GT rider as a leader. He could alos win a dozen other races and I suspect it would go without notice by some people.
deptfordmarmoset
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I had a feeling that Porte was recuperating rather than having un jour sans and it was those stages out of the limelight (and out of the top GC placings) that allowed him to give his all later. Sure, it left Froome exposed for a while but Froome was on territory where he was able to defend his lead without Porte's protection, he'd weakened the other GC contenders and, crucially, he was back giving 100% at the death. He was there when it really counted.
There were, a couple of stages where Froome effectively led Porte out for mtn top victory and he couldn't do it (can't recall which ones, couldn't be arsed googling it). Sure, I take the point of his being bladdered due to a team role but I reckon he'd be losing 30 or more seconds on a mtn finish to the real contenders. So tt time versus mtn time, as Jowwy said earlier.
Except the op was talking about the Giro but feel free to add other races and we'll talk about them.you know, reading this stuff, anyone would think that GT's are the be all and end all of racing. It's a long season with plenty of races. There are numbers of riders who can win classics, shorter stage races, perform consistently over s whole season, and still everyone is obsessed with a couple of races. Richie Porte is very talented and could be a very good GT rider as a leader. He could alos win a dozen other races and I suspect it would go without notice by some people.
Do you think he could win any of the Ardennes classics? He is fairly well suited to LBL and maybe Fleche Wallone. I would like to see more of the GC guys train for a spring peak and have a go. The Schlecks have in the past, and Evans on the Mur de Huy was great. Garmin were very attacking in LBL and got their just rewards.you know, reading this stuff, anyone would think that GT's are the be all and end all of racing. It's a long season with plenty of races. There are numbers of riders who can win classics, shorter stage races, perform consistently over s whole season, and still everyone is obsessed with a couple of races. Richie Porte is very talented and could be a very good GT rider as a leader. He could alos win a dozen other races and I suspect it would go without notice by some people.
oldroadman
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Usually teams have a stage race squad and a classics squad, but in the past tere have been some huge performances from tour riders in races like, as mentioned, LBL which suits a very hard rider. Flanders is not beyond reach either. Just ask big Eddy.
All that said, if some stage race riders are in starting line ups at classics, it's often as preparation (of the right kind) for later in the season, and essentially they work themselves to a standstill for the specialists. Right about little Cadel, he has, or had, a great explosive ability for climbs like the Muur, class always shows out at some point.
All that said, if some stage race riders are in starting line ups at classics, it's often as preparation (of the right kind) for later in the season, and essentially they work themselves to a standstill for the specialists. Right about little Cadel, he has, or had, a great explosive ability for climbs like the Muur, class always shows out at some point.
That was a great finish, I think Contador and Andy Schleck were in the mix for that one. Jrod and Nibali are other GC riders who have done well in hilly one dayers.