Richie Porte - what do we know about him?

[Night Rider]

He is a smart man our Richie - he will be there when Froome needs him for the big one.

Are we talking about the same Richie? I mean all doping questions aside he's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

 

[stutue]

I'm not sure if people of your persuasion post this way (circumspectly, rather than talking plainly) but it feels very familiar.

Anyway, I realise you are probably posting in this fashion to some extent due to your position on things and how most (?) posters respond to it, but talking plainly is far more conducive to ongoing discussion than this cloak and dagger, insinuation style which really just has the effect of making it look like you don't actually know the answer to the question you are asking and are stalling for time or something.

I thought it was pretty clear inference. Looked like he nearly cracked in last years tour therefore taking it easier in early season.

Interesting that you say 'people of my persuasion'. You ( and let me be quite clear, I mean you singular) are desperate to polarise, aren't you.

Its no wonder the handful of threads involving Sky turn so adversarial.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

I thought it was pretty clear inference. Looked like he nearly cracked in last years tour therefore taking it easier in early season.

Jeez.

If you could provide some information regarding the "cracked" that you saw, that may assist in the discussion.

He was 34th in 2012 and 19th in 2013. Is that what you mean by cracked?

 

[Dear Wiggo]

I thought it was pretty clear inference. Looked like he nearly cracked in last years tour therefore taking it easier in early season.

Interesting that you say 'people of my persuasion'. You ( and let me be quite clear, I mean you singular) are desperate to polarise, aren't you.

Its no wonder the handful of threads involving Sky turn so adversarial.

I am sorry you think I am desperate, I can assure you I am not. I am also sorry you found my post to be adversarial in nature. That was certainly not my intent.

There are sky defenders and there are Sky accusers. The discussion is polarised around whether you think Sky riders are doping - and I include Wiggins in that, or not.

Calling this post "desperate to polarise" is drawing a long bow. If you can find a single other post where I am "desperate to polarise", I would welcome the critique, but I am pretty confident you won't succeed.

 

[stutue]

Sorry. Overreacted!

It was 4.30am when I posted that, the alarm had just woken me And I'm always a bit grumpy when that happens. I'm just about to leave to make the start of a 400k event so I won't be home for another 20 hours so I won't be looking at the forum til tomorrow.

Just so you know I'm not ignoring your question! Will answer it tomorrow

 

[darwin553]

Are we talking about the same Richie? I mean all doping questions aside he's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Ok I concede off the track you might be right but on the track he ain't or doesn't appear to be thanks to the strategic brains trust of Sky

 

[roundabout]

If anyone thinks he won't be in the same shape as he was in Tour 2013 - comes July - they are deluded.

Okay I am deluded. That he is taking so much time to get over a bit of gastro is a bit concerning.

Well, unless it was more than gastro.

 

[Ripper]

Okay I am deluded. That he is taking so much time to get over a bit of gastro is a bit concerning.

Well, unless it was more than gastro.

Unless there are some serious complications, gastro type bugs should not take this long to recover from. Richie's been 'bad' for a while now ... really not a good year since the TdU.

 

[thehog]

Unless there are some serious complications, gastro type bugs should not take this long to recover from. Richie's been 'bad' for a while now ... really not a good year since the TdU.

And still bad. Wonder what his Madone time is at the moment?

Too many extra 4 hour rides with the power meter off?

 

[BYOP88]

Poor little Richie, maybe he's caught badzilla

 

[DirtyWorks]

Unless there are some serious complications, gastro type bugs should not take this long to recover from. Richie's been 'bad' for a while now ... really not a good year since the TdU.

Which, only intensifies Sky's strange decision to shun Wiggins. I get why Wiggo's not their best choice, but that seems to suggest management is unable to maintain any discipline at all.

Froome was so sick he couldn't ride L-B-L and then a couple of days later destroyed a WT field. Racing hours as prep for a grand tour is so 2001. Based on this, Richie's got PLENTY of time to suddenly return to super-domestique form.

And again, as abnormal as so many other things done by the Sky team.

 

[movingtarget]

Which, only intensifies Sky's strange decision to shun Wiggins. I get why Wiggo's not their best choice, but that seems to suggest management is unable to maintain any discipline at all.

Froome was so sick he couldn't ride L-B-L and then a couple of days later destroyed a WT field. Racing hours as prep for a grand tour is so 2001. Based on this, Richie's got PLENTY of time to suddenly return to super-domestique form.

And again, as abnormal as so many other things done by the Sky team.

It's bizarre. All indications are that Porte will be nowhere near the level of last year and may not even finish the Tour. He has missed a lot of racing and been ill quite a lot. Maybe he will peak for the third week !

 

[movingtarget]

Are we talking about the same Richie? I mean all doping questions aside he's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

He gives that impression when talking, a bit like the Australian PM but his blog on CN last year suggests otherwise. But even if he was a dullard it's not uncommon for sportsmen. They have one great talent. Floyd Mayweather is obviously an intellectual giant.

 

[Ripper]

Poor little Richie, maybe he's caught badzilla

That is it! He just needs a trip to SA and some Froome time. He will be on the podium at le Tour.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Porte is bagging blood. Has to be. Otherwise, he's not going to the TdF with that kind of "form".

Maybe he'll pull a Andreas Kloden from back in the day. Ride like crap in June, then fly in July. From Fiat to Ferrari in 20 days.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Porte is bagging blood. Has to be. Otherwise, he's not going to the TdF with that kind of "form".

Maybe he'll pull a Andreas Kloden from back in the day. Ride like crap in June, then fly in July. From Fiat to Ferrari in 20 days.

Let's be fair here, many riders do that every season. Go hard one Dauphine stage, bag blood, suck for the rest of the week
Vino was the master of it

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Porte is bagging blood. Has to be. Otherwise, he's not going to the TdF with that kind of "form".

Maybe he'll pull a Andreas Kloden from back in the day. Ride like crap in June, then fly in July. From Fiat to Ferrari in 20 days.

Porte is hilarious. Donkey (yes I know he was always a solid TT'er) to racehorse and back again. What now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhzM78kI2tc#t=50

Can this be right?

 

[webvan]

From CN

On top of that Team Sky also saw Richie Porte crack earlier than they would have liked, although Nicolas Portal was quick to play down the significance of the Australian’s performance.

“I don’t know about Richie,” Portal told Cyclingnews.

“We heard on the radio that he didn’t feel good but we’re disappointed for him as we know he has been good in the last few weeks. Maybe it’s something to do with the hot weather but let's wait and see but sometimes in sport this happens.”

CN trying to sugarcoat it? I don't see where Portal is downplaying Porte's poor showing, he just says he doesn't know. I guess Portal is a bit more cautious now after saying Froome and Porte had a good chance of winning LBL (going from memory, I can't be bothered looking it up).

 

[darwin553]

I see Porte might be flying under the clinic's radar...

 

[gooner]

Forgive me if it has been posted already. Porte talking about the leaders he has rode with Contador, Froome and Wiggins.

“Two years ago nobody knew who he was, did they? I remember talking to Bobby Julich who was studying the TrainingPeaks [power files] and he could see that Chris had a massive engine and huge capability. Now he’s just connecting the dots. That’s just how it is.

“People who don’t actually have any affiliation with professional cycling – the ‘Twitter Heroes’ – go on about him. They think, ‘How has this guy come out from nowhere?’ Well, cycling is an apprenticeship sort of thing: you don’t just become a superstar… unless you’re Peter Sagan or someone like that. With time, Froomey has developed into possibly the next big GC rider of his generation.”

http://www.ridemedia.com.au/tour-de-france/comments-from-porte-about-wiggins-and-froome/

 

[SeriousSam]

Oh dear Richie. You know what's more telling about "how it is" than a Richie P utterance? Data. We can look at the characteristics of Grand Tour Champions and guess what? Froome is a big ****ing outlier in that he's shown absolutely nothing prior to becoming the best GC rider in the world.

Well I guess there is super secret power data where he did 7w/kg in training on one of those rare days he wasn't struck down by Bazhilla.

 

[thehog]

Forgive me if it has been posted already. Porte talking about the leaders he has rode with Contador, Froome and Wiggins.



http://www.ridemedia.com.au/tour-de-france/comments-from-porte-about-wiggins-and-froome/

So he has power files for pre-sept 11 then?

Then why release them? or give them to Grappe. Or is only doper Julich allowed to see them?

Funny how those power files and his "big engine" only worked in training

Turn down the botlogic, please. It's interfering with my electronic equipment.

 

[the sceptic]

“The year I rode with Alberto – in the Giro that he won before having the title taken off him – there wasn’t much I had to do for him. The only thing I could do in that race was choose who was going to police the breakaway, that’s essentially all we had to do… and then control it. On the climbs, [Alberto] didn’t need any help… we couldn’t help him.

“There were times when Alberto punctured and I stopped to help him but then I got blown away by him straight away. That was just him; he’d catch up with me and then race straight past. And I’d be like, ‘Okay, that was pointless even stopping…’

I thought the reason Porte couldnt help was because he could barely keep up on the flat..

 

[MBotero]

I thought the reason Porte couldnt help was because he could barely keep up on the flat..

Hey,those times are long gone,Richie looks like is back to TDF 2013 level.

 

[thehog]

Hey,those times are long gone,Richie looks like is back to TDF 2013 level.

Not so fast. Quick shot of ventolin and...

Porte drifted back from the main group with Spanish team-mate David López around 8.1 kilometres remaining and closed the stage 10-27 minutes behind Froome.

“You need to wait until the end of the week to see where we are at instead of after every single hour and every single race,” Brailsford said. “[That finish] was not a true reflection of where he’s at.”

Brailsford faith in the Australian 29-year-old runs so deep that he said that next year he could offer the leadership role again.

“Oh yeah, I believe in Riche Porte 100%. He’s a fantastic climber, he gets time trialling right. With the right parcours and the right race, then I think he can win a Grand Tour,” explained Brailsford.

“He’s very close. Once he gets [his rhythm] back he’s definitely a force to reckon with.”

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...nt-lost-confidence-125854#JSABL7KTWSPO8x4p.99