I have precisely zero love for Porte, but to have been reading here in the silly season he won as soon as Froome crashed.
And he got smashed today, not only by Nibali but by most of the GC hopefuls, the list was long.
Sky are exposed: Sean Yates was right when he said no-one there knows about racing, not least Brailsford. Whatever numbers Porte was putting out in training, and the enthusiastic endorsement of his BFF Froome was shown to be a sham today, and it was at the expense of form riders like Wiggins and Kennaugh. Such little racing in his legs, such a poor showing today.
As for illness, that is something people use when it suits their agenda. So now Porte was ill, that is why he post-restday demolition derby didn;t happen? Portal said it, Porte just said the heat got to him. The heat was the same for everyone, and he's an Aussie FFS, heat's not an excuse.
Human rider, poor form and illness all season, no magic remedy, just meh.