Richie Porte Discussion Thread.

[SeriousSam]

Tejay will never in his life be able to climb as well as Porte did today (barring team changes).

 

[Queens Boulevard]

Re:

Tejay will never in his life be able to climb as well as Porte did today (barring team changes).

That's the problem with Porte to BMC. Lil Richie probably outclimbs TJ 8 out of 10 days, but it's that 1 or 2 bad days that make him not a GT contender. The interesting thing is I don't think Richie has the self actualization to realize that and will end up causing dissent in the BMC ranks (visions of him playing the Froome to TJ's Wiggens come to mind). He only works at SKY because Froome is out of this world amazing. It'll be an interesting team dynamic to say the least but I think it's weird BMC builds their climbing team with 2 leaders and no domestiques. Like they're trying to match that Garmin team of Telansky/Martin/Ryder that works so well.

 

[damian13ster]

I think he has a GT podium in him. Just can't crash like in Giro. I honestly think that without that he would have won in may

 

[Vasilis]

I'm not so convinced about the bad day of Porte at all. The only one I can actually remember is Tour 2013 stage 9, when the whole team had a collective bad day (except Froome) after their and possibly due to their exertions the previous day. In 2014, he cracked too, but, as it turned out, he fell ill and he never recovered. In the Giro, we never got to see his true potential either.

 

[SlickMongoose]

TJ might be better off targetting the Giro or Vuelta anyway. Leave Porte to be the guy who isn't quite good enough to win the tour.

 

[Vasilis]

Re:

TJ might be better off targetting the Giro or Vuelta anyway. Leave Porte to be the guy who isn't quite good enough to win the tour.

I'm not sure the Giro and Vuelta climbs suit Tejay that much. Today was unusually steep for the Tour and he didn't fare well. If he goes to the Tour togeter with Porte, it might take the pressure off both of them and they could both excel as a result.

 

[Cookster15]

Re:

I'm not so convined about the bad day of Porte at all. The only one I can actually remember is Tour 2013 stage 9, when the whole team had a collective bad day (except Froome) after their and possibly due to their exertions the previous day. In 2014, he cracked too, but, as it turned out, he fell ill and he never recovered. In the Giro, we never got to see his true potential either.

This. At the Giro I felt Porte knew it was his chance to prove the doubters wrong. But then with the crash he found it difficult to take. Call it mental fragility perhaps but I think we saw today - as in 2013 - what Porte is physically capable of. It was like 2013 AX3 all over again. Jumping past Quinana at the end today was priceless - 3 of the 'big 4' beaten. And lets not forget how strong Porte was in 3rd week of 2013 TDF - easing up for captain Froome on 2nd ascent of the Alpe.

 

[Queens Boulevard]

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

 

[Vasilis]

Re:

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

Maybe he better lead at the Vuelta, as that weather seems to suit him more. He can survive in the cold and wet, but he really performs in warmer and dry weather. In that sense the Vuelta is a much safer choice if the Tour is too big for him.

 

[hfer07]

With today's performance & a great chance to make it to top 10- if he pushes it - can we speculate How much is BMC going to Ink his contract for?

 

[Jelantik]

Re:

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

I almost certain, in article about Richie leaving and heard his interview with sbs, he said he wanted to be the team leader. He said he is in his prime year, so I believe he wants the leader fot the Tour. If it's Giro, he can stay with Sky. Porte climbs better than Tj, so he got better shot hanging with Froome than TJ. Maybe TJ should ride for Porte as plan B. But as with Cadel, TJ cares more about TJ.

 

[sienna]

It's good to see him have a successful day (when all bar one failed) after the bollocking he received from his critics during the Giro. I hope he had a quiet smile to himself.

 

[dacooley]

richie didn't surprise me much. one of the best 5-7 climbers in the world had a month and a half no racing period, rested, reloaded, came to the tour with no pressure then he was chilling in grupetto on a few stages and put a great perfomance on la pierre-saint-martin as a result.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

richie didn't surprise me much. one of the best 5-7 climbers in the world had a month and a half no racing period, rested, reloaded, came to the tour with no pressure then he was chilling in grupetto on a few stages and put a great perfomance on la pierre-saint-martin as a result.

Could not agree more.

 

[wwabbit]

For the past 2 years, Richie Porte has pretty much matched Quintana's performance in mountain stages that they have raced together. It really shouldn't be a surprised that he did the same in this stage.

 

[Sasquatch]

Re:

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

You need to put an asterix next to his top 10 in the Giro. It wasn't a special feat. He benefited by a lucky break that the peloton allowed to get up the road. Had he not been in that break he would have finished outside the top 30.

Each time Porte has had a chance to be leader, he has flopped. Nothing will change. He will flop next year and the following years with BMC. He doesn't have the temperament to be a Grand Tour rider. He lets every little thing get to him. He will never win a Grand Tour and I highly doubt he'll podium one. He's too smug as well.

 

[Vasilis]

Re: Re:

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

You need to put an asterix next to his top 10 in the Giro. It wasn't a special feat. He benefited by a lucky break that the peloton allowed to get up the road. Had he not been in that break he would have finished outside the top 30.

Each time Porte has had a chance to be leader, he has flopped. Nothing will change. He will flop next year and the following years with BMC. He doesn't have the temperament to be a Grand Tour rider. He lets every little thing get to him. He will never win a Grand Tour and I highly doubt he'll podium one. He's too smug as well.

He didn't let his crash at Paris-Nice get to him, he still won it the following day.

 

[Sasquatch]

Paris-Nice is a 1 week race. Not a 3 week race. Porte will never be a grand tour contender.

 

[DBotero]

Re: Re:

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

You need to put an asterix next to his top 10 in the Giro. It wasn't a special feat. He benefited by a lucky break that the peloton allowed to get up the road. Had he not been in that break he would have finished outside the top 30.

Each time Porte has had a chance to be leader, he has flopped. Nothing will change. He will flop next year and the following years with BMC. He doesn't have the temperament to be a Grand Tour rider. He lets every little thing get to him. He will never win a Grand Tour and I highly doubt he'll podium one. He's too smug as well.

How many chances did he get until now? One.OK it didn't end well,but it was a combination of bad luck,team failure not only him to blame for the result.But the temperament might be a problem,if he work at this he might do better in a GT then people expect.

 

[Vasilis]

Re:

Paris-Nice is a 1 week race. Not a 3 week race. Porte will never be a grand tour contender.

Your argument is he crumbles as soon as something goes wrong. Mine is that PN contradicts that. Your argument had nothing to do with the duration of the race.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Re: Re:

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

You need to put an asterix next to his top 10 in the Giro. It wasn't a special feat. He benefited by a lucky break that the peloton allowed to get up the road. Had he not been in that break he would have finished outside the top 30.

Each time Porte has had a chance to be leader, he has flopped. Nothing will change. He will flop next year and the following years with BMC. He doesn't have the temperament to be a Grand Tour rider. He lets every little thing get to him. He will never win a Grand Tour and I highly doubt he'll podium one. He's too smug as well.

Without the time he won in that break he would have been 12th, besides that he got ill in the Giro so that was an amazing performance from a neo pro.

 

[dacooley]

Re: Re:

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

You need to put an asterix next to his top 10 in the Giro. It wasn't a special feat. He benefited by a lucky break that the peloton allowed to get up the road. Had he not been in that break he would have finished outside the top 30.

Each time Porte has had a chance to be leader, he has flopped. Nothing will change. He will flop next year and the following years with BMC. He doesn't have the temperament to be a Grand Tour rider. He lets every little thing get to him. He will never win a Grand Tour and I highly doubt he'll podium one. He's too smug as well.

i suspect you just want porte never to become a gt contender.

 

[movingtarget]

Porte has led a team in a GT twice and failed for varying reasons. So that means he is to be written off completely ? Last year's Tour performance was due mainly to illness. As far as his chances of winning one go, I am in two minds. I am sure he can podium one but less confident he can win one. A change of luck would be the first thing he would need. To avoid illness, time penalties and crashes. Look at Gesink's career. So much promise but constant problems. I think Porte is changing teams at the right time, it was now or never. He will get chances at his new team wherever he goes. 2016 will be a big season for Porte, as he needs to start showing what he can do in a GT, convince his team and his support riders. TJVG after so many years is just starting to do that now. For some riders it's a slow process.

 

[sienna]

Re: Re:

Richie Porte has raced 9 grand tours. He did finish 7th overall in the 2010 Giro but after that he's finished relatively low in the standings every year since. An unimpressive 19th and 23rd in the last 2 Tours. I agree that on any given day he can look amazing, but he usually offsets that with something that puts him firmly out of contention. He'll also be 31 years old when next year begins, so it's not like he's in his mid 20s or anything. I wouldn't rule out a GT win from Porte. As I said he can be the strongest rider on the road on any given day, great in the Mountains and in the TT. Historically though, banking on Richie to win you a GT is a bad move. For BMC it would be best if they can talk him into leading at the Giro, enjoy the two or three 1 week stage race wins he can bring you and then hope he finally breaks the curse, maybe at 38 he can pull a Horner and crest the top step of a podium at a GT. If they use him as a GT leader at the Giro and then a dom at the Tour next year though, I see him an TJ both being worse for it.

You need to put an asterix next to his top 10 in the Giro. It wasn't a special feat. He benefited by a lucky break that the peloton allowed to get up the road. Had he not been in that break he would have finished outside the top 30.

Each time Porte has had a chance to be leader, he has flopped. Nothing will change. He will flop next year and the following years with BMC. He doesn't have the temperament to be a Grand Tour rider. He lets every little thing get to him. He will never win a Grand Tour and I highly doubt he'll podium one. He's too smug as well.

i suspect you just want porte never to become a gt contender.

I suspect some people resent the success and influence of Australian riders in elite cycling.

 

[DBotero]

Re:

Porte has led a team in a GT twice and failed for varying reasons. So that means he is to be written off completely ? Last year's Tour performance was due mainly to illness. As far as his chances of winning one go, I am in two minds. I am sure he can podium one but less confident he can win one. A change of luck would be the first thing he would need. To avoid illness, time penalties and crashes. Look at Gesink's career. So much promise but constant problems. I think Porte is changing teams at the right time, it was now or never. He will get chances at his new team wherever he goes. 2016 will be a big season for Porte, as he needs to start showing what he can do in a GT, convince his team and his support riders. TJVG after so many years is just starting to do that now. For some riders it's a slow process.

Last year Tour doesn't count.He wasn't the leader,he was plan B.Also Sky used plan G.too