Team Sky leader Richie Porte says it is now up to him and his teammates to attack Tour de France maillot jaune holder Vincenzo Nibali.
Porte sits second overall at 2 minutes, 23 seconds from the Italian after a couple of strong rides in the two uphill finishes so far.
Since reigning champion Chris Froome crashed out of the Tour on stage 5 with a broken wrist and hand, Australian Porte has stepped up to the leadership role of Britain’s Sky, but with Alberto Contador also crashing out on Monday’s stage 10, breaking his shinbone, his Tinkoff-Saxo team, stacked with excellent climbers, will no longer look to push the pace on the climbs to put pressure on Nibali.
Photo: AFP
Porte says his team and those of Nibali’s closest challengers, such as the Movistar team of Alejandro Valverde, third at 2:47, will now have to step up to the plate, and despite Nibali and his Astana team looking imperious so far, Porte says the race is far from run.
“Anybody’s beatable, he’s in a great position, he’s got a good team, they’ve controlled this race really well having had the jersey for so long, but we’ve seen this Tour throws in surprises everywhere. It’s not over until Paris,” the 29-year-old said on Tuesday’s first rest day ahead of yesterday’s hilly 187.5km 11th stage from Besancon to Oyonnax, France. “We have to attack him now. It’s our race to take up to him. I’m sure Valverde and all these guys [will attack] come the Pyrenees, close to Spain. I’m sure we’re going to see some exciting racing.”
On the first uphill finish on Saturday it had been Tinkoff-Saxo pushing the pace ahead of a Contador attack, although Nibali followed him and lost only three seconds, but without the two-time former champion on Monday it was Nibali’s Astana who took up pace-setting duties, before the Sicilian himself launched the hostilities.
Photo: AFP
Porte was the only rider to chase and when he looked around for help, all the other potential contenders tucked in behind his wheel.
Porte ended up seventh, 25 seconds behind Nibali, while five other riders stole a few seconds off the Aussie after attacking him in the last few hundred meters.
“It was frustrating at the time, Nibali’s up the road, that’s the race, but in some ways for me it’s good to see I’m the one taking the race up, taking the responsibility,” Porte said. “It wasn’t ideal to ride 2km [towing the others], and to only lose a few seconds there on such a hard finish, I think it’s a good day.”
However, he is expecting it to be more of the same in the absence of Contador, although he is hoping for a hand from some teams.
“Of course with [Tinkoff]-Saxo losing Alberto that does change the dynamics of the race. I’m not going to give away what we’re going to do tactically, but if we want to take time back we do have to ride aggressively somewhere,” he said. “Not just us, but Movistar as well, they have a good team to do that. There could be a queue to give it to Astana in that last week.”
Now that Porte is the new Sky leader, Welshman Geraint Thomas has been promoted to chief lieutenant, the role Porte played for Froome and before that Froome did for Bradley Wiggins.
Thomas says it has been interesting to witness at close hand the similarities and differences between the three leaders.
“Brad’s more quiet, he doesn’t say a lot. From Brad I can only comment from 2011, he doesn’t speak so much in the race, so you’re not quite sure what he’s thinking sometimes,” Thomas said. “Froomey’s really like: ‘right boys, this is what I want today,’ and he’s really developed as well over the last year or so with that. Richie’s just starting out, he gets stuck in, he’s aggressive, he really fights, which all three of them do, which is all you want really. If you’re riding yourself into the ground you just want to know the guy behind you who you’re riding for is going to do the same.”
Meanwhile, Contador said he does not need surgery on his injured right leg and hopes to defy his doctors by racing in next month’s Vuelta a Espana.
The 31-year-old Spaniard flew back to Madrid on Tuesday, where he underwent exhaustive medical checks.
“The doctor told me that surgery would only lead to more trauma on the knee and would only delay my recovery more,” Contador said in a statement. “The good news is that no tendons or ligaments were damaged and the fracture is in the best possible place. I’ll have to stop everything for two weeks and, until the wound heals, my leg has to be immobilized.”
Contador continues to grapple with his early exit, which left Nibali in command.
“I couldn’t sleep last night thinking this situation wasn’t real, but when I opened my eyes, I could see it was,” Contador said.
Contador is determined his leg could heal in time for the Vuelta, which begins Aug. 23.
“The doctors have told me it’s practically impossible that I’ll be able to race in the Spanish Vuelta, but let’s see how my leg progresses,” the Tinkoff-Saxo rider said. “The doctors have not given me any hope, but I will work very hard in the coming weeks and let’s see what that leads to.”
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