Hot racing coming up in Australia

[yaco]

Porte has never shown any aptitude as a one day race which is the same as Froome - Whereas Chaves has shown he is a good one day rider.

 

[Red Rick]

maybe the UCI or organisers would do something if they realised how unpopular this race is outside of the venue its staged at - its little wonder the TV coverage is so poor, there's simply no demand for it.

even in Australia nobody cares about it or knows its on but for the people who live in the town that its raced around

the points system is a joke that this is awarded the same points as monuments and other big european races - what has the UCI been smoking to come up with this?

I can see why the forum has boycott the race in protest.

What a silly and misinformed post - I'll give you a history lesson - Originally,Adelaide had a Formula 1 Grand Prix from the mid 80's to the mid 90's, before the race moved to Melbourne - The South Australian Government ( which effectively bankrolls the race ) polled the community on what other sporting event 1 they wanted to replace the Formula - The community voted for a cycling event - That's the major reason why you have the TDU.

The race has fabulous public support with crowds as good as you will get in cycling - The parcours is well suited for this time of the year,riders love staying in the one hotel with no transfers - The race is similar to the Tour of St Luis and its predecessor, though possibly ridden at a harder tempo - It's shocking that we have a well organised WT cycling event which has financial security, big media support and massive public support.

I agree. It's good for an early season race. And that's where it ends. This race has no business giving out that many WT points, if at all. Only Aussies remotely target it, it has no variety, and it has little history. So the question why this is WT boils down to the one reason the UCI ever do anything. Money.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

With all of the whining on this thread why bother watching at all if it's that bad ? The same things are said year after year. Everyone knows what sort of race it is, Go watch replays if you think the whole thing is pointless. Australians enjoy it for what it is. It's too hot, too many UCI points, not enough climbs. Tune in for the Cadel Evans race for more of the same : it's not hard enough, it's too short. The answer is simple : click fade to black.

Hahaha! So true!

The one race that should get more coverage and surely nobody could complain about the parcours over the last few years in the Sun Tour, the scenery is far more interesting than what we have at the TDU and the course design has really stepped up but unfortunately we won't get anywhere near the same coverage of it.

The trouble is they have shortened the Sun Tour. Yes it has a better course than the TDU but it used to be much longer. Froome probably would not have ridden the old style Sun Tour so early in the season. The old Commonwealth Bank Tour was a good race as well once they started going into the Hunter Valley and using some of the decent climbs in the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and the South Coast. If they cut out some of the criteriums that would have been a very good race but it was a logistical nightmare traveling down the east coast of Australia and causing some major traffic disruptions on roads that could not be avoided. Between Sydney Canberra, Wollongong and Nowra there are plenty of decent climbs they could use in a stage race. There would be no need to start on the north coast. If they found sponsors I'm sure they could design a decent one week long race maybe starting in Sydney and finishing in Canberra or vice versa.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Based on the limited evidence here, it's Chaves rather than Porte who I think is going to be the real deal this year. Chaves is clearly nowhere near top form but still looks strong; it seems his base level has gone up from previous years - not quite at Sagan or Valverde levels yet - but in the past he has been completely off the radar in his first few races each season, now he's at the front even though he lacks any real kick.

Porte always starts the season strongly, and then is on a pretty steep downward trajectory towards the end of his main GT. Looks like more of the same here.

Porte looks the goods last year until he broke his shoulder at the Olympics. He didnt really have a downward trajectory until that happened.

I'm not sure about that. It seemed to me he was getting worse throughout the Tour relative to the other GC riders. He started the Tour well and was on fire for the first week and a half. Then his TTs were pretty poor there by his best standards, and he was losing seconds here and there consistently in the final week. It helped him that Sky riding such a controlling tempo prevented anyone from actually attacking and blowing the race apart. I suppose that at least stopped him from having the usual awful day.

his wheel was rubbing in that last mountain stage hence why he lost time there
he was finishing the tour strong otherwise, if he were a better bike handler he may have finished second, even with that puncture he still had falls

Yep, it was a close call between Porte and Mollema as to who was the second best climber at the Tour last year.

Quintana got lucky with some of the misfortune of others. He looked much better in the Vuelta.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

LRP annihilating the GT wannabees on Willunga Hill today.

Last 1km: https://youtu.be/N54RbaatTEE

 

[Lupi33x]

Re: Re:

With all of the whining on this thread why bother watching at all if it's that bad ? The same things are said year after year. Everyone knows what sort of race it is, Go watch replays if you think the whole thing is pointless. Australians enjoy it for what it is. It's too hot, too many UCI points, not enough climbs. Tune in for the Cadel Evans race for more of the same : it's not hard enough, it's too short. The answer is simple : click fade to black.

Hahaha! So true!

The one race that should get more coverage and surely nobody could complain about the parcours over the last few years in the Sun Tour, the scenery is far more interesting than what we have at the TDU and the course design has really stepped up but unfortunately we won't get anywhere near the same coverage of it.

The trouble is they have shortened the Sun Tour. Yes it has a better course than the TDU but it used to be much longer. Froome probably would not have ridden the old style Sun Tour so early in the season. The old Commonwealth Bank Tour was a good race as well once they started going into the Hunter Valley and using some of the decent climbs in the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and the South Coast. If they cut out some of the criteriums that would have been a very good race but it was a logistical nightmare traveling down the east coast of Australia and causing some major traffic disruptions on roads that could not be avoided. Between Sydney Canberra, Wollongong and Nowra there are plenty of decent climbs they could use in a stage race. There would be no need to start on the north coast. If they found sponsors I'm sure they could design a decent one week long race maybe starting in Sydney and finishing in Canberra or vice versa.

I think its inevitable it will move back east eventually.
South Australia is bankrupt and people are leaving the place in their droves hence why the local govt is desperate for tourism in Australia's least interesting region.

They must be paying that fat sunburnt guy a lot who is doing the presenting on Channel 9 to say everything is beautiful. :lol: He sounds like such an insincere pitch man.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Mollema never did better than Porte even before his unfortunate crash, so there's really no contest.

Mollema looked strong on the shortened Ventoux stage but he faded as the race progressed. Everyone expected (me included) Porte to fade or blow by week 3 but he didn't. That is why DFA's comment is now officially obsolete.

No-one blew up in the third week of the tour except the likes of Aru or Mollema who suffered crashes or went on ridiculous suicide attacks. It was an extremely easy final week not to blow up on because everyone just rode at threshold because Sky were too strong to do anything else.

I suspect he did fade during the Tour. He finished behind Adam Yates on a hilly TT and behind Aru on a mountain TT, and lost seconds consistently in the final week. There is no way he wouldnt have done better in TTs if they were in the first week. If he would have taken his form from the first 10 days into the final week, he would easily have finished on the podium. He was arguably the strongest climber in the race on the Ventoux stage, yet was struggling to hang on to the (huge) front group by the last week. He didn't lose big time like in the past because no-one attacked and blew the race apart in the final stages.

Mollema, without his crash, would easily have finished above Porte. Of that there can be no doubt.

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

 

[HelloDolly]

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

 

[yaco]

Re:

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

100% correct - Porte was the only rider all season who could go with Froome when he attacked.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

That's a bit harsh on Costa, who's also a contender in most hilly classics and a WC.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

That's a bit harsh on Costa, who's also a contender in most hilly classics and a WC.

Fair point, Costa's probably a bit of a different rider. More of a one day specialist who also wins Suisse!

Every year around this time though some people begin to big up Porte and how this will be the year he does big things in a GT. A couple of years ago he won the NTT so and gave up beer so was going to be make a breakthrough, last year he moved teams and started promisingly so was going to do well. The guy just isn't a top GT rider and never has been - he's a week long stage race specialist who peaks early in the year.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

C'mon, Porte has already had a TdF podium performance last year. Without losing almost 2 minutes to a puncture he finishes 2nd, so that "never finished on a GT podium" doesn't mean much. And let's not forget that Porte's spent the majority of his GTs working for Froome and Contador.

Barring a major form drop from Froome, in the next 1-2 years, the only guys I'd see as having any real chance of really contending with him in a GT are Nairo, Contador, Porte, and maybe Chaves. Chaves because he appears to be on an upward trajectory. There are other guys with better GT résumés than some of those guys but I don't see them able to compete with Froome.

 

[May0maniac]

Sebastián Henao looked pretty strong, he worked a lot for Sergio and still finished with Woods on a short climb that shouldn't really suit him that much. Another strong showing by Restrepo (his climbing level is a surprise) and Odd Christian Eiking.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

C'mon, Porte has already had a TdF podium performance last year. Without losing almost 2 minutes to a puncture he finishes 2nd, so that "never finished on a GT podium" doesn't mean much. And let's not forget that Porte's spent the majority of his GTs working for Froome and Contador.

Barring a major form drop from Froome, in the next 1-2 years, the only guys I'd see as having any real chance of really contending with him in a GT are Nairo, Contador, Porte, and maybe Chaves. Chaves because he appears to be on an upward trajectory. There are other guys with better GT résumés than some of those guys but I don't see them able to compete with Froome.

And so it starts again for another year. One of the names on that list clearly doesn't belong there. There are at least ten riders more likely to win a GT this year than Porte.

And none of them are peaking in January.

 

[greenedge]

Re:

1. Where the heck did Haas come from?

I think he just timed his effort better than others, he was right behind Woods chasing back on then with around 500 metres to go (where I was standing) he'd caught back up to the Chaves group.

 

[greenedge]

Re:

Based on the limited evidence here, it's Chaves rather than Porte who I think is going to be the real deal this year. Chaves is clearly nowhere near top form but still looks strong; it seems his base level has gone up from previous years - not quite at Sagan or Valverde levels yet - but in the past he has been completely off the radar in his first few races each season, now he's at the front even though he lacks any real kick.

Porte always starts the season strongly, and then is on a pretty steep downward trajectory towards the end of his main GT. Looks like more of the same here.

That would explain why he won P-N/ Catalunya in 2015...

 

[greenedge]

Re: Re:

Based on the limited evidence here, it's Chaves rather than Porte who I think is going to be the real deal this year. Chaves is clearly nowhere near top form but still looks strong; it seems his base level has gone up from previous years - not quite at Sagan or Valverde levels yet - but in the past he has been completely off the radar in his first few races each season, now he's at the front even though he lacks any real kick.

Porte always starts the season strongly, and then is on a pretty steep downward trajectory towards the end of his main GT. Looks like more of the same here.

Porte looks the goods last year until he broke his shoulder at the Olympics. He didnt really have a downward trajectory until that happened.

I'm not sure about that. It seemed to me he was getting worse throughout the Tour relative to the other GC riders. He started the Tour well and was on fire for the first week and a half. Then his TTs were pretty poor there by his best standards, and he was losing seconds here and there consistently in the final week. It helped him that Sky riding such a controlling tempo prevented anyone from actually attacking and blowing the race apart. I suppose that at least stopped him from having the usual awful day.

Not trying to be too biased in my defence of Porte, but other than Meintjes, Froome, Bardet and Quintana (who was terrible the whole rest of the race) no one improved. I think in Bardet's stage win he was pulling alone to reel him back in, paid the price and the riders who had sat on him jumped around him in the last 2km.

 

[The Hegelian]

Bring back the Commonwealth Bank Cycling Classic.

Yeah! I remember a skinny Ullrich dominating one year + McEwan demonstrating his future potential....

Pretty crappy parcours though.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re: Re:

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

Richie's real GT potential is difficult to truly evaluate. In some grand tours he simply could not stand the distance (like in the Tour 2014), and in others we may never know if he would have been a contender (thinking Giro 2015). If anything I'd say that his latest results in the Tour should give him the benefit of the doubt. If he had been declining over the course of three weeks, there could be some truth to your words. But he didn't really, did he? He's not as proven as Quintana and co., but he's certainly proven a lot more in GT's than Costa and Spilak. Costa has other qualities that Porte doesn't have, but should that detract anything from Porte's GT-record? No.

 

[hazaran]

Re: Re:

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

Porte has twice left Quintana and the entire GC field but Froome behind at the most crucial time. He has simply shown a much, much higher ceiling than any Spilak, Costa, Nibali or Chaves.

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

Yep, Richie wins again on the Porteberg. Are BMC riding the Sun Tour? Not sure if I can see Froome or Chaves beating him up to Falls Creek.

Only WT teams are Orica and Orica - There are around 5 or 6 PCT teams and the rest are CT's - Gazprom could spring a surprise.

I assume you mean Orica and Sky?

You've mentioned before that you think Gazprom could challenge at the Sun Tour, I've looked at the team they've sent down for the race and I just don't see who they have who's a chance to win the race if Froome and Chaves are off form. If the winner is to come from a team outside of the WT outfits then United Healthcare, Roompot or even Korda Mentha who have Storer, Hindley and Hamilton are in with a better shot than anyone from Gazprom.

 

[StryderHells]

Re: Re:

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

Porte has twice left Quintana and the entire GC field but Froome behind at the most crucial time. He has simply shown a much, much higher ceiling than any Spilak, Costa, Nibali or Chaves.

You can't be serious with those last 2 riders mentioned, Nibali has won multiple GT's and Chaves has 2 GT podiums last season.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

With all of the whining on this thread why bother watching at all if it's that bad ? The same things are said year after year. Everyone knows what sort of race it is, Go watch replays if you think the whole thing is pointless. Australians enjoy it for what it is. It's too hot, too many UCI points, not enough climbs. Tune in for the Cadel Evans race for more of the same : it's not hard enough, it's too short. The answer is simple : click fade to black.

Hahaha! So true!

The one race that should get more coverage and surely nobody could complain about the parcours over the last few years in the Sun Tour, the scenery is far more interesting than what we have at the TDU and the course design has really stepped up but unfortunately we won't get anywhere near the same coverage of it.

The trouble is they have shortened the Sun Tour. Yes it has a better course than the TDU but it used to be much longer. Froome probably would not have ridden the old style Sun Tour so early in the season. The old Commonwealth Bank Tour was a good race as well once they started going into the Hunter Valley and using some of the decent climbs in the Illawarra, Southern Highlands and the South Coast. If they cut out some of the criteriums that would have been a very good race but it was a logistical nightmare traveling down the east coast of Australia and causing some major traffic disruptions on roads that could not be avoided. Between Sydney Canberra, Wollongong and Nowra there are plenty of decent climbs they could use in a stage race. There would be no need to start on the north coast. If they found sponsors I'm sure they could design a decent one week long race maybe starting in Sydney and finishing in Canberra or vice versa.

I think its inevitable it will move back east eventually.
South Australia is bankrupt and people are leaving the place in their droves hence why the local govt is desperate for tourism in Australia's least interesting region.

They must be paying that fat sunburnt guy a lot who is doing the presenting on Channel 9 to say everything is beautiful. :lol: He sounds like such an insincere pitch man.

Typical front man. He knows nothing about the sport and it's just his job to talk for the public not cycling fans. Too bad SBS lost the contract for the race as the quality of the presentation dipped after it left SBS. The first half hour of every stage is tourism promotion which they keep coming back to through the stage.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Actually, there can be loads of doubt.

Exactly ...some posters on here decide something is true then they spin the facts as evidence

Porte was the second best climber in the Tour 2016. He is also a far better TTer than Chaves, Mollema & both Yates

Chaves can still get better and is a great talent but as far as climbing in GTs I donlt think he is better than Porte . Porte has had problems and mechanicals & crashes etc. while Chaves has has been consistent but better climber ...no

In all GTs there is luck ...just ask Nibali and sometimes like Porte has been you can be on the wrong end

I think Porte is more relaxed and confident and if he can keep form till July he is for me the only rider (bar Quintana dpendent on post Giro form) who can challenge Froome on the climbs

What a load of rubbish. Porte is going to be 32 in a couple of weeks and has never finished on a GT podium. For a supposed GC rider, he's got an appalling record in GTs. Nothing he has done so far this season suggests that is going to change.

Chaves already achieved way more last season than Porte has done in his whole career in GTs. Porte is like a slightly better version of Spilak or Costa. Not fit to be mentioned alongside Quintana, Froome, Nibali or even Chaves as a GC contender in the big races.

Costa is not even a GT rider. He is a hilly classics rider and good for the Tour of Switzerland and such races. Same for Spilak. Porte is better than both of them in GTs now no matter his age. He was also riding for Froome for a long time and never had the chances he has now and for the past two seasons. If anyone thinks his 2016 Tour ride did not look like an improved rider they should watch another sport.