 Porte at the2017 Paris–Nice | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Richard Julian Porte[1] |
| Nickname | Tasmanian Devil Fish The King of Willunga Hill[2] |
| Born | (1985-01-30)30 January 1985 (age 40) Launceston, Tasmania, Australia |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft7+1⁄2 in)[3] |
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb; 9 st 11 lb)[3] |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder |
| Amateur teams | |
| 2007 | AC Sammarinese–Gruppo Lupi |
| 2008 | Mastromarco Sensi Grassi |
| 2009 | Bedogni–Grassi–Natalini |
| Professional teams | |
| 2008–2009 | Praties |
| 2010–2011 | Team Saxo Bank |
| 2012–2015 | Team Sky[4] |
| 2016–2018 | BMC Racing Team |
| 2019–2020 | Trek–Segafredo[5][6] |
| 2021–2022 | Ineos Grenadiers[7][8] |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Medal record | |
Richard Julian Porte (born 30 January 1985) is an Australian former professionalroad bicycle racer who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2022. His successes include wins at 8World Tour stage races:Paris–Nice in2013 and2015, theVolta a Catalunya in2015, theTour de Romandie in2017, theTour Down Under in2017 and2020, theTour de Suisse in2018 and theCritérium du Dauphiné in2021.[9] InGrand Tours, he won theyoung rider classification at the2010 Giro d'Italia, his first year atUCI ProTour level, and finished on the podium of the2020 Tour de France, but was also frequently hit by illnesses and injuries.[10]
 | This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Richie Porte" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Porte was born inLaunceston, Tasmania in 1985. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Launceston. A sports award at their Croagh Patrick campus is named in his honour and awarded to the best athlete in Year 9 annually. When he rides it is not uncommon to see Porte wear a necklace ofTasmania, a homage to his home state.After spending many years living in Europe, in 2023 Porte returned to live in Tasmania after his retirement from professional cycling.
Porte started dedicated cycling in 2006 when he was 21 years of age. He comes from a triathlon background, having competed in the sport since 2003. Prior to that he was a competitive swimmer.[11] Porte rode forUniSA–Australia at the2008 Tour Down Under and finished ninth overall. He raced with aTasmanianUCI Continental team,Praties, in 2008 and 2009, taking fifth place in the 2008 Herald Sun Tour and winning the Tours of Perth and Tasmania. Porte rose and under the eye ofAndrea Tafi on theMonsummanese Grassi Mapei amateur Italian team in 2009, finishing tenth at the2009 Tour de Langkawi. His performance at the 2009Baby Giro, where he won the individual time trial, brought him to the attention of the professional teams.
.jpg)
At the end of the 2009 season, he signed a two-year contract withTeam Saxo Bank. His coach at Team Saxo Bank was compatriotBradley McGee.[12] In April, Porte went on to win the stage 4 time trial at theTour de Romandie, finishing in tenth place overall.[13] In May he made his Grand Tour debut in theGiro d'Italia where he finished seventh overall and won theyoung rider classification, by a margin of 7' 29" overRobert Kišerlovski, cementing his place as a rider for the future. He also led the race during stages 11 to 13 and thus wore thepink jersey. In July Porte placed tenth in theClásica de San Sebastián and had a further run of strong performances; second in the stage 5 time trial of thePost Danmark Rundt,[14] fourth overall at theEneco Tour[15] and fourth overall at theTour of Britain.[16] Porte narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in thetime trial at the UCI Road World Championships, held in the Australian city of Geelong; he finished in fourth place, six and a half seconds down on third-place finisher, Germany'sTony Martin.
Although the 2011 season brought less individual success for Porte, through the expectation that he would become a keydomestique forAlberto Contador in his overall victory in theGiro d'Italia, Porte continued his strong time trial performances; placing third inParis–Nice[17] and eighth at theTour of the Basque Country.[18] Porte then won the fourth stage atVuelta a Castilla y León[19] by virtue of Contador's disqualification. Porte then placed third in the final stage time trial at the Giro d'Italia,[20] and fourth in the final stage time trial at theTour de France.[21] Porte then went on to win fifth stage time trial at thePost Danmark Rundt, inHelsingør, by a margin of 10 seconds over teammate,Gustav Larsson.[22] Porte then finished his season with sixth position in thetime trial at the UCI Road World Championships.
.jpg)
Porte joinedTeam Sky ahead of the 2012 season.[23] In January 2012, he competed in his national championships inBuninyong andLearmonth, where he finished third in theroad race,[24] and placed fifth in thetime trial several days later.[25] In February 2012, Porte took the lead of theVolta ao Algarve after winning the race's queen stage, the summit finish at theAlto do Malhão inLoulé.[26] He held the lead until the end of the race, eventually finishing 37 seconds clear of defending race winner,Tony Martin.[27] Porte then worked forBradley Wiggins inParis–Nice, helping his leader win the race overall. Porte was a key member of the Sky teams that helped Wiggins go on to win theTour de Romandie, theCritérium du Dauphiné and theTour de France.[citation needed] Porte then rode theVuelta a España in support ofChris Froome, and took second place on stage 20.
In the absence of Wiggins and Froome, Porte was selected to lead Team Sky atParis–Nice. He won the fifth stage of the race – the queen stage – with an attack onLa Montagne de Lure to take the lead of the race, fromGarmin–Sharp'sAndrew Talansky. Porte also won the final time trial on the Col d'Èze by 23 seconds over Talansky to seal overall victory by 55 seconds. Porte's time was only four seconds short of the course record, set by Wiggins the previous year.[28]
Porte's good form continued into theCritérium International, winning the second stage's time trial.[29] A second-place finish on the final mountain stage was not enough to prevent stage winner and teammateChris Froome from winning the general classification, but did secure Porte the points classification, and second place overall.[30]
Porte was again given the lead of Team Sky for theTour of the Basque Country. Porte powered away in the final kilometres of stage five from a small group of elite riders, including race leader and teammateSergio Henao, to claim the stage. In the sixth and final stage, an individual time trial, Porte could not matchNairo Quintana over the undulating parcours, but managed to rise to second place in the general classification, ahead of Henao. Porte returned to a supporting role for Chris Froome at theTour de Romandie. He helped Froome win the race and placed eighth overall himself in the process. Porte and Froome next featured at theCritérium du Dauphiné at the beginning of June. Porte sat fifth overall after the time trial on stage four, and on the following stage helped Froome take the race lead by setting a strong tempo to dropRohan Dennis, before Froome attacked to win the stage. Porte in the process moved up to second overall, 52 seconds behind his leader. Froome allowed Porte to attack on stage seven, although he only managed to take one second out of the other contenders. On the concluding stage eight, Froome and Porte rode clear of their rivals on the final climb, with onlyAndrew Talansky able to follow, to secure a one-two finish in the overall standings.
Porte entered theTour de France as super-domestique for Froome. On stage eight – the first mountain stage –Peter Kennaugh and then Porte dropped most of the overall contenders and brought back an earlier attack by Nairo Quintana on the final climb before Froome attacked to take the stage win and overall lead. Porte was able to finish second on the stage, 51 seconds behind Froome, to rise to second overall.[31][32] However, in the following stage Porte cracked following numerous early attacks byMovistar Team,Garmin–Sharp andSaxo–Tinkoff riders, leaving Froome completely isolated for most of the stage. Porte lost over ten minutes and dropped out of overall contention, although Froome managed to avoid time loss by fending off several attacks fromAlejandro Valverde and Quintana.[33] On stage 15, Porte again provided the launch pad for Froome's victory onMont Ventoux.[34] On stage 18 – which finished atAlpe d'Huez – Porte's assistance proved vital for Froome, as Froome ran into difficulty towards the end of the stage; Porte dropped back to the team car to illegally get energy gels for his leader, then paced him to the end of the climb to limit his losses to Quintana andJoaquim Rodríguez. Porte and Froome each received a 20-second time penalty and a fine of 200Swiss francs for the infringement.[35] Froome went on to comfortably win the Tour by four minutes, 20 seconds over Quintana with Porte finishing 19th overall.
.jpg)
After finishing third behindSimon Gerrans andCadel Evans in the national road race championships, Porte began his 2014 season at his home race, theTour Down Under. He won the penultimate fifth stage,[36] finishing onOld Willunga Hill, and finished fourth in thegeneral classification on the final stage.[37] Porte then followed up his result in the Tour Down Under with second overall at theVuelta a Andalucía. Porte's season then took a downwards turn finishing 22nd overall at theCritérium du Dauphiné.[38] Porte then failed to start atTirreno–Adriatico[39] and failed to finish at;Tour de Romandie,[40]Liège–Bastogne–Liège,[41]Volta a Catalunya,[42][43] culminating in him taking leadership ofTeam Sky due toChris Froome's abandonment and then finishing 23rd at theTour de France.[44] Porte then failed to finish theVattenfall Cyclassics[45] as well asGP Ouest–France[46] which led him to end his season early after being diagnosed withpneumonia.[47]
Just before the Tour de France, Porte revealed that he had beaten teammate Chris Froome's time on the famousCol de la Madone climb near toMonte Carlo. Porte completed the climb in 29 minutes 40 seconds, besting Froome's time by 29 seconds.[48]
Porte started the 2015 season with success, taking victory in theAustralian National Time Trial Championships.[49][50] Much like the previous season, Porte took victory on the queen stage of theTour Down Under at Old Willunga Hill resulting in a second place on the overall general classification.[51][52] Porte then returned to Europe at theVolta ao Algarve again taking victory on the queen stage to the summit finish of Malhão, this stage win succeeded in elevating Porte to fourth overall on general classification behind teammateGeraint Thomas, as well as taking the win in the mountains classification.[53] Porte's next victory came atParis–Nice where he and teammate Thomas took a one-two victory on the summit finish of Croix de Chaubouret.[54] Despite losing the chance to take the overall lead after a crash on the penultimate stage of the race, a victory in the final-day time trial (again on theCol d'Èze), by a margin of 13 seconds to his closest rival, gave him his second overall victory in the race in the past three seasons. Furthermore, this pushed him to the top of theUCI Road World Rankings.[55][56][57]
Porte's next victory came in late March when he secured the overall win at theVolta a Catalunya. Despite not winning a stage, Porte won the race by a margin of four seconds fromAlejandro Valverde, after achieving two top-5 stage placings on the decisive finishes ofLa Molina andValls.[58] In late April Porte notched up his third overall win of the season, taking theGiro d'Italia warm-upGiro del Trentino four-day stage race.[59] Porte took a decisive stage victory on the Queen stage summit finish toBrentonico[60] giving him a margin of 24 seconds to his closest rival,Mikel Landa. Porte would carry the majority of this gap to the finish inCles.[61] In doing so he became the first ever rider to win theParis–Nice,Volta a Catalunya andGiro del Trentino treble in one season.
In the Giro d'Italia, Porte made headlines by having a motor-home to sleep in as he was the team leader while his teammates slept in hotels.[62] He was competitive during the first week of the race, and sat third overall after stage nine. However, on Stage 10 Porte punctured 5 km from the finish, and accepted a change of wheels fromSimon Clarke from theOrica–GreenEDGE team. Porte initially lost 47 seconds to the peloton, but was then docked two minutes and fined 200 Swiss francs for accepting Clarke's wheel as this manoeuvre is illegal according to UCI rules, dropping him to 12th place overall.[63] On stage 13, Porte was involved in a crash 3.3 kilometres (2.1 miles) from the stage finish, and lost a further two minutes.[64] Porte suffered a bad individual time trial on stage 14 and an even worse stage 15, where he lost 27 minutes to then-leaderAlberto Contador. After that debacle, he gave the leadership of the team toLeopold König.[65] After the aforementioned stage, he announced he was abandoning the race due to a leg injury.[66]
After the Giro, Porte was included in Sky's squad for theTour de France as a key domestique for Chris Froome. He played a key role in Froome's overall victory in that race, especially during the first mountain stage 10, where Porte not only made the final pull that allowed Froome to launch his decisive attack, but recovered to overtake the chasing Nairo Quintana and arrive second behind Froome, increasing the latter's lead over Quintana due to bonus seconds. During the final mountain stage 20, with Froome seemingly running out of steam on the long uphill finish and Nairo Quintana aggressively attacking in front, Porte was the last Sky rider to steadily pull and pace Froome up the climb, allowing him to limit his losses and secure the overall lead and yellow jersey, to gain his second Tour de France victory.[67][68] During the Tour Porte confirmed that he would be leaving the team at the end of the year, with the aim of becoming a team leader elsewhere.[69] This would later, in August, be confirmed to beBMC Racing Team.[70]
.jpg)
Ahead of the 2016 season Porte highlighted the Tour de France and theOlympic road race andtime trial as his targets for the year.[71] He started his season strongly in Australia, finishing second to new teammateRohan Dennis in theAustralian National Time Trial Championships[72] before going to theTour Down Under, where he took his first victory in BMC colours by winning stage 5 to Willunga Hill for the third year in a row[73] and finished second overall.[74] He subsequently struggled in theTour of Oman in February, losing over three minutes to the leaders on each of the first two stages,[75] before bouncing back upon returning to Europe, taking third place in the general classification atParis–Nice after attacking the last stage's final climb alongsideAlberto Contador[76] followed by an overall fourth place in theVolta a Catalunya.[77] Following his third place at Paris-Nice, Porte spent one week ranked number 1 in theUCI road racing world ranking, during the period in which the new rankings system was forming.[78][79] Porte targeted theTour de France, but lost time early on with a mechanical problem on stage 2. Along withBauke Mollema and Froome he was leading an attack upMont Ventoux which involved all three riders being taken down when a motorcycle suddenly stopped in front of them disrupting the performance of all three riders and causing the ensuing chaos which involved Chris Froome running up Mont Ventoux. He rallied to perform well in the mountains andindividual time trials, finishing fifth overall, his highest Grand Tour placing to that point.[80]
In the 2017 season, Porte finished 12th in theWorld Tour individual classification, having won theTour Down Under; he won the queen stage of the race, at OldWillunga Hill for the fourth successive season. Porte also won theTour de Romandie and finished 2nd in theCritérium du Dauphiné. He crashed out of theTour de France on stage 9 while descending the Mont du Chat; he had been in an excellent position going into the high mountains being within about 30 seconds of the lead with onlyDan Martin, Froome andFabio Aru ahead of him.
In the 2018 season, Porte won theTour de Suisse, finished second at theTour Down Under, and third at theTour de Romandie. Again he crashed out of theTour de France on stage 9, this time suffering a collarbone injury. Once again he was in good position prior to the high mountains being within a minute of Super-Domestique and eventual winnerGeraint Thomas and overall leaderGreg Van Avermaet. He was also ahead of most other favorites includingRomain Bardet,Mikel Landa,Tom Dumoulin, Froome andNairo Quintana.
For the 2019 season, Porte moved to theTrek–Segafredo team.[5] He won the queen stage at theTour Down Under, winning at Old Willunga Hill for the sixth successive year. During theTour de France he was in tenth place overall when the race was shortened due to landslides and dangerous weather. He finished the race in eleventh overall, nearly thirteen minutes behind race winnerEgan Bernal.
He began the 2020 season by taking the lead midway through theTour Down Under, but thenDaryl Impey took a two-second advantage going into the final stage on Old Willunga Hill. Porte did not win the stage – finishing second behindMatthew Holmes – however he gained enough time over Impey and the other overall contenders to win the race for the second time in his career, after his victory in2017.[81] During theTour de France, Porte found himself in a top-ten position early in the race, and by the end of the second week he was in ninth place overall. He moved up to sixth in the general classification, after he finished third on stage fifteen, behindTadej Pogačar andPrimož Roglič.[82] Porte moved into fourth overall following stage 17, a summit finish at theCol de la Loze, and was 1' 39" behind a podium placing going into the penultimate day's stage, a 36.2-kilometre (22.5-mile)individual time trial that finished atLa Planche des Belles Filles.[83] Porte recorded the third-fastest time for the stage – only beaten by Pogačar andTom Dumoulin – and by outpacingMiguel Ángel López by nearly five minutes, he moved into third place overall.[84] He ultimately finished the race in that position, recording his first Grand Tour podium finish and the first by an Australian rider at the race sinceCadel Evans'2011 Tour de France win.[85]
Porte was awarded the Sir Hubert Opperman Medal for AusCycling's Cyclist of the Year for 2020.[86]
In September 2020, it was announced Porte would leave Trek–Segafredo, and he signed a two-year contract withIneos Grenadiers from 2021 onwards.[8][87]
On his first start of the 2021 season, Porte withdrew fromParis–Nice on the opening stage, after a crash caused by a discarded water bottle.[88] He returned to racing with second-place overall finishes at theVolta a Catalunya and theTour de Romandie.[89][90] He then won theCritérium du Dauphiné ahead of teammate Geraint Thomas andAlexey Lutsenko.[91] He appeared to be in good form heading into theTour de France; however, he lost over two minutes on the opening stage, marked by several crashes.[92] He crashed on stage 9,[93] losing further time. He ultimately finished 38th overall, while assistingRichard Carapaz in the mountains to a third-place overall finish.[94] After the race, he stated that it was his final Tour de France appearance.[95]
In 2022, Porte recorded top-ten overall finishes at March'sTirreno–Adriatico (fourth),[96] and April'sTour of the Alps (seventh),[97] with his final race start coming at theTour of Britain in September.[98]
Overall Tour of Bright OverallTour de Perth OverallTour of Tasmania
Young rider classification
after Stages 11–13 OverallVolta ao Algarve OverallParis–Nice
Points classification
Team time trial,UCI Road World Championships
Time trial, National Road Championships OverallParis–Nice
OverallVolta a Catalunya
OverallGiro del Trentino
Mountains classification
OverallTour Down Under OverallTour de Romandie OverallTour de Suisse OverallTour Down Under
OverallCritérium du Dauphiné| Grand Tour general classification results | |||||||||||||
| Grand Tour | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia | 7 | 80 | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF |
 Tour de France | — | 72 | 34 | 19 | 23 | 48 | 5 | DNF | DNF | 11 | 3 | 38 | — |
 Vuelta a España | — | — | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | 84 | — | — | — | — |
| Major stage race general classification results | |||||||||||||
| Race | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Paris–Nice | DNF | 22 | 68 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | 11 | — | — | 41 | DNF | — |
 Tirreno–Adriatico | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 |
| Volta a Catalunya | — | — | DNF | — | DNF | 1 | 4 | — | — | 38 | NH | 2 | DNF |
| Tour of the Basque Country | — | 127 | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | |
| Tour de Romandie | 10 | 121 | 4 | 8 | DNF | — | DNF | 1 | 3 | — | 2 | — | |
 Critérium du Dauphiné | — | — | 9 | 2 | 22 | — | 4 | 2 | — | 11 | 15 | 1 | — |
| Tour de Suisse | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | NH | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| NH | Not held |
| IP | In progress |
Just behind him on GC in fourth was Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) [...]
It is his final race before retiring from professional cycling.
Tour de Suisse winners | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| |||||
| |||||
| |||||
| |||||
|
