Richie Porte - what do we know about him?

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thehog

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Cookster15 said:
msjett said:
Time will tell what LRP does in this race and other races, but I just can't see it being a win or a podium in a 3 week race....I would like to be proven wrong.

So far he's on track to prove you wrong. But he still has some time to make up on those ahead of him on GC. Best thing about Porte is he hasn't shown any signs of his bad day. He has been the only rider who has consistently been able to stay with Froome on MTFs. Hopefully it stays that way whether he can grab a podium or not. Good for his self belief. Pity for the time he lost in crashes.

Since this is the Clinic one thing I will state is Porte's performance at BMC kind of diminishes the arguments about Sky. Right now LRP is riding at least as well as 2013 and he hasn't cracked. Any conspiracy theories that the UCI are happy for an Antipodean to do well or is that being "allowed" just to take suspicion away from the Skybots?


The TT he had a bad day....
 
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thehog said:
Cookster15 said:
msjett said:
Time will tell what LRP does in this race and other races, but I just can't see it being a win or a podium in a 3 week race....I would like to be proven wrong.

So far he's on track to prove you wrong. But he still has some time to make up on those ahead of him on GC. Best thing about Porte is he hasn't shown any signs of his bad day. He has been the only rider who has consistently been able to stay with Froome on MTFs. Hopefully it stays that way whether he can grab a podium or not. Good for his self belief. Pity for the time he lost in crashes.

Since this is the Clinic one thing I will state is Porte's performance at BMC kind of diminishes the arguments about Sky. Right now LRP is riding at least as well as 2013 and he hasn't cracked. Any conspiracy theories that the UCI are happy for an Antipodean to do well or is that being "allowed" just to take suspicion away from the Skybots?


The TT he had a bad day....

He was strong on the climb but had problems with the wind. He looks fine now. Should close to podium gap further in tghe MTT. If anything he seems to be getting slightly stronger. Hope he can keep it up.
 
May 26, 2010
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rick james said:
Christ on a bike over 7 years I'd expect all of us to change how we look.

Not our ears mate, unless we play rubgy and turn them into cabbage leaves.

But you keep believing that skeletal riders are normal ;)
 
Oct 16, 2010
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Basically his facial fat has deserted him. No more cheeks. Ears are all bone.

It's a noticeable and unexpected difference for an athlete who was already a highly trained athlete in that first pic.
 
Oct 4, 2011
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Benotti69 said:
rick james said:
Christ on a bike over 7 years I'd expect all of us to change how we look.

Not our ears mate, unless we play rubgy and turn them into cabbage leaves.

But you keep believing that skeletal riders are normal ;)
Not sure how you can tell his ears have changed when you're trying to compare an ear you can see in one photo to the one you can't in the other ?

Not debating his cleanliness just that this doesn't really do anything to prove anything- him sprinting up mountains is enough.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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Porte is incredibly toned already for the TDU how he looks for the Tour probably won't be much different I hope. I won't go into the ear debate !
 
May 23, 2009
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Does anyone else think that Porte might have a shot at the Ardennes this year? I can see him figuring at Liege and Flèche Wallone
 
Aug 5, 2009
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42x16ss said:
Does anyone else think that Porte might have a shot at the Ardennes this year? I can see him figuring at Liege and Flèche Wallone

Fleche usually favours a more explosive type sprinter like Valverde or Rodriguez and it's much steeper. He would have to break a way to win the Liege as he wouldn't win that sprint, it's not steep enough. Although Evans won Fleche but then Evans was a much better classics rider than Porte. Fleche would probably be the one he would get nearest to winning but he would have to go early on the climb and usually when you go early you lose. Would be interesting to see him try though.
 
May 29, 2011
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What about amstel, though? Kreuziger is not amongst the riders with the sharpest racing nous, but he managed to snatch the race with a well timed ambush move. Of course I think porte is even less likely to pull such thing.

As for the pics, guy clearly lost some fat.
 
May 23, 2009
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movingtarget said:
42x16ss said:
Does anyone else think that Porte might have a shot at the Ardennes this year? I can see him figuring at Liege and Flèche Wallone

Fleche usually favours a more explosive type sprinter like Valverde or Rodriguez and it's much steeper. He would have to break a way to win the Liege as he wouldn't win that sprint, it's not steep enough. Although Evans won Fleche but then Evans was a much better classics rider than Porte. Fleche would probably be the one he would get nearest to winning but he would have to go early on the climb and usually when you go early you lose. Would be interesting to see him try though.
I don't see Porte winning either, but I do believe he can animate the race at both and fight for a good placement.
 

thehog

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jens_attacks said:
So what is the w/kg limit for an 8 min climb effort? If there is one.

8.2w/kg but that was only for 7 minutes. Doesn't tell you a lot except he produced a lot of power for a guy that doesn't weight that much. Again it was for a short period of time.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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42x16ss said:
movingtarget said:
42x16ss said:
Does anyone else think that Porte might have a shot at the Ardennes this year? I can see him figuring at Liege and Flèche Wallone

Fleche usually favours a more explosive type sprinter like Valverde or Rodriguez and it's much steeper. He would have to break a way to win the Liege as he wouldn't win that sprint, it's not steep enough. Although Evans won Fleche but then Evans was a much better classics rider than Porte. Fleche would probably be the one he would get nearest to winning but he would have to go early on the climb and usually when you go early you lose. Would be interesting to see him try though.
I don't see Porte winning either, but I do believe he can animate the race at both and fight for a good placement.

I don't see why not. Usually Fleche is the easiest of the Ardenne races. It's the shortest and usually comes down to the final sprint.
 
Aug 5, 2009
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meat puppet said:
What about amstel, though? Kreuziger is not amongst the riders with the sharpest racing nous, but he managed to snatch the race with a well timed ambush move. Of course I think porte is even less likely to pull such thing.

As for the pics, guy clearly lost some fat.

Kreuziger is suited to the hilly classics. I think Amstel suits him more than Porte but then Porte is usually a pretty good TT rider. He would have to go a long way from the finish and hope the chase wasn't too organized as it happened for Kreuziger. You always need some luck to win those races and Kreuziger's attack was well timed. Porte has never really shown a lot in the classics as he usually rides for someone else when he does ride them.
 
Jul 10, 2012
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thehog said:
jens_attacks said:
So what is the w/kg limit for an 8 min climb effort? If there is one.

8.2w/kg but that was only for 7 minutes. Doesn't tell you a lot except he produced a lot of power for a guy that doesn't weight that much. Again it was for a short period of time.

doesn't tell you much? assuming a max FTP of 6 w/kg that's 2.2w/kg * 7 minutes * 62kg = an incredible anaerobic work capacity. There's less literature about the "normal" range for AWC so all I can go on is my own, but apparently his AWC is 2.5x mine at 20kg lower body weight.
 
May 29, 2011
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proffate said:
thehog said:
jens_attacks said:
So what is the w/kg limit for an 8 min climb effort? If there is one.

8.2w/kg but that was only for 7 minutes. Doesn't tell you a lot except he produced a lot of power for a guy that doesn't weight that much. Again it was for a short period of time.

doesn't tell you much? assuming a max FTP of 6 w/kg that's 2.2w/kg * 7 minutes * 62kg = an incredible anaerobic work capacity. There's less literature about the "normal" range for AWC so all I can go on is my own, but apparently his AWC is 2.5x mine at 20kg lower body weight.
The additional power is not just anaerobically produced, though. In fact oxygen consumption will continue to increase once riders go above their Ftp up until a max vo2 is reached. This usually takes a while and can be attained also at prolonged submaximal but supra ftp efforts due to the so called vo2 slow component. Nonetheless there is a significant aerobic component to supra ftp power generation. Conversely, FTP is always a fraction of vo2max, not identical to it.

In efforts ranging from 5-10 minutes it is largely just this the supra ftp aerobic power (as well as the ability to convert lactate into work) that counts.

But surely pro riders tend to have a huge anaerobic capacity as well.

If you google coggan w/kg chart you can get a ballpark number for world class riders limits for these kinds of efforts. Different individuals will have different abilities, of course. The chart states 7,6w/kg for 5min efforts as a ballpark, so perhaps 8w/kg for 8 minutes is within range for the absolute bests... But NB that this chart is from the "pre-cleans" era and so your mileage will vary.