Richie Porte - what do we know about him?

[Alphabet]

What we know about Porte is that he was absolutely, almost ridiculously awful when riding for Riis and Saxo Bank in 2011- neither team nor director are known for cleanliness.

Then he makes the jump away from the dirty Saxo to the super squeaky white linen Dettol Antiseptic clean Sky, and his ability goes through the roof.

 

[Galic Ho]

There's a great vid from a relatively recent Aussie MTB champs where Jongewaard grabs someone's handlebars and crashes them so he can get past.

Something tells me his subsequent interview was true, and he would do anything to get somewhere in cycling. Anything.

You serious!? Damn that is COLD. Colder than a Huon Salmon to the face!

Which I have been thinking about that ad. Have Richie and the Dawg both with a Huon Salmon strapped to their back. One of those 2 footers BC mentioned. Then talk about how they were fishermen but now, with marginal gains, although they can't perform miracles and divide the fish among lots of people (like Jesus did) they can share their hard work, aka marginal gains, spreading the good message of team Sky.

People are dumb. They'd buy that. Sell marginal gains. Tie it in as your own fishing miracle. Dividing little things among many. Like the good team Sky. Heck, finish it off by saying now our 'lil Richie' can have his own GT!

Do note Sky...I'm not gonna give marketing freebies away forever. Shock and awe. Think sideways. There is no box...so don't think inside one. Free tips for the day DONE.

Okay I lied...I gave out some more. My bad.

 

[GreasyMonkey]

You serious!? Damn that is COLD. Colder than a Huon Salmon to the face!

Which I have been thinking about that ad. Have Richie and the Dawg both with a Huon Salmon strapped to their back. One of those 2 footers BC mentioned. Then talk about how they were fishermen but now, with marginal gains, although they can't perform miracles and divide the fish among lots of people (like Jesus did) they can share their hard work, aka marginal gains, spreading the good message of team Sky.

People are dumb. They'd buy that. Sell marginal gains. Tie it in as your own fishing miracle. Dividing little things among many. Like the good team Sky. Heck, finish it off by saying now our 'lil Richie' can have his own GT!

Do note Sky...I'm not gonna give marketing freebies away forever. Shock and awe. Think sideways. There is no box...so don't think inside one. Free tips for the day DONE.

Looking for a consultancy job with their management agents? Don't give away such ideas, SELL 'EM!!

 

[Galic Ho]

What we know about Porte is that he was absolutely, almost ridiculously awful when riding for Riis and Saxo Bank in 2011- neither team nor director are known for cleanliness.

Then he makes the jump away from the dirty Saxo to the super squeaky white linen Dettol Antiseptic clean Sky, and his ability goes through the roof.

Absent as a domestique for Contador. The post Ax-3 stage...that was Porte every day for Contador. Every day.

Now he can out ride Contador. Alberto Contador. He who has the highest number of Grand Tour wins since Armstrong. Since Indurain. Since Merckx.

Of course this is completely normal in pro cycling. A new paragon of clean cycling!

 

[Ferminal]

What we know about Porte is that he was absolutely, almost ridiculously awful when riding for Riis and Saxo Bank in 2011- neither team nor director are known for cleanliness.

Then he makes the jump away from the dirty Saxo to the super squeaky white linen Dettol Antiseptic clean Sky, and his ability goes through the roof.

People like Riis have been doping for so many years they have ignored the fact that a few simple training techniques can deliver legitimate gains equivalent to raising your hct by 5 percentage points.

 

[Galic Ho]

Looking for a consultancy job with their management agents? Don't give away such ideas, SELL 'EM!!

I like your thinking. Join the Dark Side! Wait...did I just type that?

I can sell the whole Froome deal better than they have. Brailsford needs to be tutored properly in BS etiquette. The whole, 'less is more approach' would work wonders for him. Also putting a muzzle on Porte and Kerrison would be a WISE move. These guys this year just didn't know how to shut up. Just like Wiggins last year.

Which is why I said Richie will give the Clinic a lot of laughs for the following year. He gets more spotlight, well he just won't be able to contain himself. We're gonna have a lot to laugh at for the next 9 months.

 

[Galic Ho]

I figured out how they can sell Porte being better.

He found his mojo. His BFF. His Froome Dawg. His ying to his yang. His soul mate.

I don't know about you guys, but I'd buy that making me ride better than Contador, wouldn't you?

 

[GreasyMonkey]

I figured out how they can sell Porte being better.

He found his mojo. His BFF. His Froome Dawg. His ying to his yang. His soul mate.

I don't know about you guys, but I'd buy that making me ride better than Contador, wouldn't you?

GH, you gotta set up a biz doing "Master of Disaster" for pro-cycling.

Your talent for BS management is too good to be wasted - Phat could use your skills, or is that "a bridge too far" for you.

...... or is it what you have been smoking tonight??

 

[Ripper]

There's a great vid from a relatively recent Aussie MTB champs where Jongewaard grabs someone's handlebars and crashes them so he can get past.

Something tells me his subsequent interview was true, and he would do anything to get somewhere in cycling. Anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhvZoq2KSvs

LMAO

 

[Ripper]

What did you expect from a bunch of Tasmanian's who procreate by rolling around in the hay with their cousins?

I can't help but have a good laugh at Porte all the time. He's a laugh a minute.

BTW who read his blog? Ripper, was it really as bad as you said on the latest article concerning Porte's Giro aspirations?

It wasn't that bad (i.e. I have read worse). I think I said it was a good read for 5 year olds, as it was really pretty simplistic stuff ... no insights into the pro life there. The thing is, some folks just loved his blog and were all about how wonderful it was, which of course, is wayyyyy over the top. Richie is writing for the pro Sky masses and looks to be adopting the "gosh, I'm just a down to earth workin' boy" persona. Kinda reminds me of a certain Tyler Hamilton's blogs when he was racing. Remember that stuff? "Thanks for reading and tugboat this, tugboat that" ... he's just so nice he couldn't be doping!

Also, some of the posters at the bottom of the articles have the blinders on so tightly that it would be even funnier if was not so sad.

 

[Ripper]

dont think it was a faux jour sans. the hit sky, and hit them early, and before the tv coverage. it was porte left to close everything for froome. if he could have hidden in the peloton, he would have been fine. they were not expecting that.

obviously they forgot to do their marginal gains warmup.

ofcourse froome and porte are chemical creations

Agree 100% with this ^^^^^^^^

 

[Galic Ho]

GH, you gotta set up a biz doing "Master of Disaster" for pro-cycling.

Your talent for BS management is too good to be wasted - Phat could use your skills, or is that "a bridge too far" for you.

...... or is it what you have been smoking tonight??

PR Management Firm...hmmmnnnn.

The way it's going, I could sell pro cycling to the masses no problem and it would smell and seem cleaner than it's been going.

It comes down to getting marketers and advertisers. Most of the advertising students I met at uni are thick as two planks and totally unscrupulous. Major BS artists. Now marketers have their heads on more firmly and aren't as 'loose' as their advertising counterparts.

Now if you know how they're taught, how they think per se as a body and thus the subject material and audience, getting a really good message across is not exactly rocket science. The amazing thing with cycling and doping, is we have a ton of things to draw upon. We've literally heard and seen every cliched BS line imaginable. So knowing what NOT to say at a particular time isn't hard.

Problem is training the monkeys...aka the riders and idiots DS's. Like Sky. Like Brailsford. They give the Clinic ammo. Not concrete proof, but enough reason to be suspicious.

Take the Porte bonking setup. It was said on the forum, drop his head, weave around, slouch the shoulders, and play act. Gotta sell the damn thing right! Part of it is body language. Froome needs to look like Kohl...dying at the end of a stage. I remember people saying him being drained made it seem real. Porte should have been told to drag himself back to the team car, get water bottles and pour them over himself. Again and again. Then act it all up at the end. He strolled into the stage end looking fresh as a daisy whilst Ryder Hesjedal, who won the Giro, was sweating like a pig.

Heck I can sell them a GT no problem. Breakaway. Then everyone, has to pull them back in. Let a group get 10-15 minutes. Let someone who might be a threat go. Kind of like the 2010 Giro. Then when EVERYONE isn't attacking your team, but helping, you're all in the dirt together. Accusations go evenly. Thus when the stage end gets whittled down to a slogging match between only the top guys at the end of a Queen stage, all of whom NEED time, but aren't merely protecting yellow...well it's an easier story to sell.

Sky's problem is EGO. Froome wants to show his power. Gotta tell him to STOP. He has to loose. Look normal. Not gonna make him cleaner, but when YOU KNOW you have the win down pat, let it go. Like Tommy Voeckler as a young fella...yellow for ten days. The focus on that person draws away from your own absurdity.

I sure could help them sell their crap. But I won't. There is no way I could live with myself. Not even if it paid really really well and I got to track through Europe.

Which begs the question. Which teams sell themselves best to the Clinic? Sky are the most talked about and I think it's because their planning for marketing is so ***. It works on the casuals...the general public. Pro teams? Nope. Honestly, Astana have a better approach than Sky. That should say it all. Actually it does...they don't really speak.

 

[Galic Ho]

It wasn't that bad (i.e. I have read worse). I think I said it was a good read for 5 year olds, as it was really pretty simplistic stuff ... no insights into the pro life there. The thing is, some folks just loved his blog and were all about how wonderful it was, which of course, is wayyyyy over the top. Richie is writing for the pro Sky masses and looks to be adopting the "gosh, I'm just a down to earth workin' boy" persona. Kinda reminds me of a certain Tyler Hamilton's blogs when he was racing. Remember that stuff? "Thanks for reading and tugboat this, tugboat that" ... he's just so nice he couldn't be doping!

Also, some of the posters at the bottom of the articles have the blinders on so tightly that it would be even funnier if was not so sad.

I read the comments on that Porte article. They were sad. Like I said...might have been his cousins. What can you do?

I don't remember Tyler's blogs. Heck, even Tyler has been fooled by this lot of new clean cyclists. He endorsed Froome.

As for Jongewaard. What a tool! The more I hear about him, the less pleasant he sounds. Thank God he isn't riding in Europe on the road.

 

[blackcat]

Agree 100% with this ^^^^^^^^

Sky's hubris and recovery doping, lead them to neglect risk management.

Did Armstrong always go au bloc when he had the possibility of making a 45sec gain, to a 70 sec gain.

Armstrong was smarter than this. (i reckon) he and had his team had his race strategy down to an MBA science. They did not see the extra 25sec gain in context of smashing the opposition, but the potential for a jour sans, on bonk, on the following stage. Armstrong had how many off-days during his 7 years? 1? 2?

Next year, i think Sky will not necessarily need to crush every stage, and win the Tour in the first week. The final timetrial will do to put the final dagger in.

for all putative wisdom of Brailsford, they incorrectly priced risk. The best can do it. See the GFC and read Nouri elRoubini the Lebanon economist at Columbia

 

[blackcat]

It wasn't that bad (i.e. I have read worse). I think I said it was a good read for 5 year olds, as it was really pretty simplistic stuff ... no insights into the pro life there. The thing is, some folks just loved his blog and were all about how wonderful it was, which of course, is wayyyyy over the top. Richie is writing for the pro Sky masses and looks to be adopting the "gosh, I'm just a down to earth workin' boy" persona. Kinda reminds me of a certain Tyler Hamilton's blogs when he was racing. Remember that stuff? "Thanks for reading and tugboat this, tugboat that" ... he's just so nice he couldn't be doping!

Also, some of the posters at the bottom of the articles have the blinders on so tightly that it would be even funnier if was not so sad.

I was a fan of Kristin Danielson's blog on his website "Kristin's corner".

That was the muts nuts.

 

[42x16ss]

There's a great vid from a relatively recent Aussie MTB champs where Jongewaard grabs someone's handlebars and crashes them so he can get past.

Something tells me his subsequent interview was true, and he would do anything to get somewhere in cycling. Anything.

His name was mud in the NRS peloton a few years ago, probably still is now.

 

[42x16ss]

Sky's hubris and recovery doping, lead them to neglect risk management.

Did Armstrong always go au bloc when he had the possibility of making a 45sec gain, to a 70 sec gain.

Armstrong was smarter than this. (i reckon) he and had his team had his race strategy down to an MBA science. They did not see the extra 25sec gain in context of smashing the opposition, but the potential for a jour sans, on bonk, on the following stage. Armstrong had how many off-days during his 7 years? 1? 2?

Next year, i think Sky will not necessarily need to crush every stage, and win the Tour in the first week. The final timetrial will do to put the final dagger in.

for all putative wisdom of Brailsford, they incorrectly priced risk. The best can do it. See the GFC and read Nouri elRoubini the Lebanon economist at Columbia

That was the impression that I always had too. Despite all of his many, many flaws LA was smart on the road. Why risk failing the next day if you couldn't take any more than a few seconds? Let the opposition fail then stick the knife in. Hard.

 

[the sceptic]

What do we know about him? His performances are strange.

Last year could barely keep up on the flat. Now he's gangbusters on the climbs at 450w+

I thought he might have a future but he'll be forever tainted by the Sky team.

No wonder Simon Gerrans got out.

Porte I think is a reasonable TT'er but climber?

What's he doing?

Good post Hog.

Now he is losing 17 minutes on one stage in the tour of Beijing and DNF the day after. How can anyone watching this take it seriously?

No doubt he will be back and toying with the field at the giro next year, with Walsh eagerly twittering how great it is.

 

[thehog]

Good post Hog.

Now he is losing 17 minutes on one stage in the tour of Beijing and DNF the day after. How can anyone watching this take it seriously?

No doubt he will be back and toying with the field at the giro next year, with Walsh eagerly twittering how great it is.

It was a good post.

I'm sure someone will post a tube of Richie in Tasmania winning a 4 minute climb by 30 seconds

For me with regards to his performances is the 2012 Tour and Ax3.

Holy cow he was strong at the 2012 and day after day after day.

Ax3 he was more than likely producing bigger numbers than Froome. He was leading 7km out, rode everyone after his wheels, allowed Froome to attack and went on his own. That's 7km of front riding with one small dip in-between to allow Froome to go.

Drafting counts and this guy did none on ax3.

He then rode the entirety of the next stage on his own - (whether you believe the faux jour sans or not).

Unbelievable.

 

[pmcg76]

Hey guys

How about LeMond winning the Tour and then being dropped by amateurs at the Tour of Ireland(Nissan Classic) a few months later.

Joe Parkin(former US pro) said he stopped for a **** and when he was returning to the peloton he encountered LeMond who was complaining about the unbelievable speed, Parkin told him they were just cruising along and that he(LeMond) would be better of quitting if he were struggling at such a pace. That is what happened and LeMond dropped out on the first day, the organiser's(ironically Pat McQuaid) were not impressed.

This was also the same season when LeMond was being regularly dropped at the Tour du Pont in May.

Lets try and keep it somewhat balanced at least, being dropped at the Tour of Bejing mean exactly squat.

 

[gooner]

Good post Hog.

Now he is losing 17 minutes on one stage in the tour of Beijing and DNF the day after. How can anyone watching this take it seriously?

No doubt he will be back and toying with the field at the giro next year, with Walsh eagerly twittering how great it is.

You were complaining in the Leinders thread about Walsh being brought into the discussion and you do the same thing here yourself.

I maybe wrong but I think Walsh's time with Sky was only for this year.

Beijing shows nothing in the wider scale of things. As if 17 mins behind is really his true worth on a not too difficult route for this stage. Remember Bouhani won the stage which should tell you everything.

Come on.

 

[thehog]

You were complaining in the Leinders thread about Walsh being brought into the discussion and you do the same thing here yourself.

I maybe wrong but I think Walsh's time with Sky was only for this year.

Beijing shows nothing in the wider scale of things. As if 17 mins behind is really his true worth on a not too difficult route for this stage. Remember Bouhani won the stage which should tell you everything.

Come on.

It does tell you everything. Porte who I'm agree could not give a *** about this race should have been able to hang on to the bunch and cruise home.

I get it. He wants a break, sponsors and the UCI force you to ride a stupid race like this with jet lag.

But the guy smashed apart Ax3. He should be able to ride in with the bunch.

How long was the stage?

Contador was in the mix at Torino.

 

[gooner]

It does tell you everything. Porte who I'm agree could not give a *** about this race should have been able to hang on to the bunch and cruise home.

I get it. He wants a break, sponsors and the UCI force you to ride a stupid race like this with jet lag.

But the guy smashed apart Ax3. He should be able to ride in with the bunch.

How long was the stage?

Contador was in the mix at Torino.

176km.

Matthews, Bozic and Viviani were in the top 10.. Petacchi was in the lead group. The climbs were all around 5%. I seen the race just before the hit the last one and it was raced hard with Martin, Costa and Visconti but it wasn't too difficult. Porte's mind is on his holidays.

 

[thehog]

176km.

Matthews, Bozic and Viviani were in the top 10.. Petacchi was in the lead group. The climbs were all around 5%. I seen the race just before the hit the last one and it was raced hard with Martin, Costa and Visconti but it wasn't too difficult. Porte's mind is on his holidays.

He should be able to hold onto to Petacchi but I'm with you on this. I don't think anyone wants to be in china this late in the season.

It's just seems odd that he can't at least hold into the back of the main group.

 

[Ferminal]

Not having the form is only one explanation. It could be that he doesn't care and doesn't see any point in serious exertion, or is letting go in some sort of silent protest.

Although he's done 15 or so race days since the Tour and all bar the WC TTT show the same thing (you can count on one hand the number of similar days he had earlier in the season).