Richie Porte has taken over the lead of the UCI WorldTour for the first time in his career, the 28 year old racing to the top of the standings on the basis of his Paris-Nice win yesterday.
The Team Sky rider won both the Montagne de Lure and the final Col d’Eze time trial and these performances secured him a 55 second winning margin over Garmin – Sharp’s Andrew Talansky. It is the first-ever win by an Australian in the prestigious early-season event, and the biggest victory of Porte’s career.
In 2012 he took the Volta ao Algarve, but Paris-Nice is a larger race with a glittering history of past winners.
Porte lives nearby and felt that was an advantage. “As I live in Monaco, it’s a climb I know by heart. I’ve ridden it three or four times the same day [in training],” he said, according to DH.be.
“I’ve proven that I had without doubt the best legs of the climbers in Paris-Nice,” he said. “What was important is that I had 32 seconds of an advantage and not 32 seconds of a deficit [before the time trial]. Talansky beat me in a time trial like this in Romandie, but I took time from him in the uphill part.”
The success sees him enter the WorldTour rankings at the top, amassing 113 points and easing past previous leader, Santos Tour Down Under winner Tom Jelte Slagter (Blanco Pro Cycling). Talansky is third on 92 points, while Javier Moreno (Movistar, 86), Geraint Thomas (Sky, 77) and Jean Christophe Peraud (Ag2r La Mondiale, 71) complete the top six.
The American BMC Racing Team rider Tejay van Garderen, who had hoped to win Paris-Nice but who instead had to be content with fourth overall, is seventh.
Porte has moved to a new level in his career, but he believes it’s too soon to talk about him heading the team in a bigger race. He wants more time before shouldering that responsibility. “I don’t feel like I’m ready to lead at a Grand Tour yet. My goal is to go to the Tour and support Chris [Froome] and Brad [Wiggins]. Do that and maybe next year I could potentially lead Team Sky at the Giro,” he said.
Porte’s result plus the strong Tour Down Under performance of Geraint Thomas sees Sky top the WorldTour team standings. It has 193 points, with Blanco Pro Cycling on 158 and Garmin-Sharp on 94. Euskaltel, Movistar and RadioShack Leopard are fourth, fifth and sixth.
Chris Froome is currently leading Tirreno-Adriatico with two stages left to run. If he can hold on to the blue jersey, that will further bolster Sky’s advantage.
Spain is best of the nations, with its 182 points seven more than that of the Netherlands and 27 more than the United States. France, Australia and Great Britain are next in line.
UCI WorldTour standings, as of 10 March 2013:
1 (-) PORTE Richie, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 113
2 (1) SLAGTER Tom Jelte, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 111
3 (-) TALANSKY Andrew, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 92
4 (2) MORENO BAZAN Javier, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 86
5 (3) THOMAS Geraint, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 77
6 (-) PERAUD Jean-Christophe, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 71
7 (-) VAN GARDEREN Tejay, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 62
8 (4) IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Jon, EUSKALTEL EUSKADI (EUS) 61
9 (-) CHAVANEL Sylvain, OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 60
10 (5) HERMANS Ben, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 52
11 (6) KELDERMAN Wilco, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 41
12 (-) SPILAK Simon, KATUSHA (KAT) 40
13 (-) ULISSI Diego, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 32
14 (7) IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka, EUSKALTEL EUSKADI (EUS) 32
15 (-) WESTRA Lieuwe, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 22
16 (8) PIETROPOLLI Daniele, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 20
17 (9) GREIPEL André, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 18
18 (10) MACHADO Tiago, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 11
19 (-) KLÖDEN Andreas, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 10
20 (-) VELITS Peter, OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 6
21 (18) GILBERT Philippe, BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) 6
22 (-) ALBASINI Michael, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 6
23 (-) VIVIANI Elia, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING (CAN) 6
24 (-) KITTEL Marcel, TEAM ARGOS - SHIMANO (ARG) 6
25 (11) GERRANS Simon, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 6
26 (12) RENSHAW Mark, BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) 6
27 (-) BOUHANNI Nacer, FDJ (FDJ) 6
28 (13) GOSS Matthew Harley, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 5
29 (14) VEIKKANEN Jussi, FDJ (FDJ) 4
30 (-) MENCHOV Denis, KATUSHA (KAT) 4
31 (-) IGLINSKY Maxim, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 4
32 (-) PETACCHI Alessandro, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 4
33 (15) DEMARE Arnaud, FDJ (FDJ) 4
34 (16) FERRARI Roberto, LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) 4
35 (-) QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 2
36 (-) ROJAS GIL Jose Joaquin, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 2
37 (-) DUMOULIN Samuel, AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) 2
38 (-) HOWARD Leigh, ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) 2
39 (17) BOASSON HAGEN Edvald, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 2
40 (19) CANTWELL Jonathan, TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF (TST) 2
41 (-) LOPEZ GARCIA David, SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) 1
42 (-) GASPAROTTO Enrico, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 1
43 (-) GALLOPIN Tony, RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) 1
44 (-) BOZIC Borut, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 1
45 (-) DEBUSSCHERE Jens, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 1
46 (-) SOUPE Geoffrey, FDJ (FDJ) 1
47 (20) PONZI Simone, ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) 1
48 (21) VISCONTI Giovanni, MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) 1
49 (22) VON HOFF Steele, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 1
50 (23) WELLENS Tim, LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) 1
51 (24) FENN Andrew, OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) 1
52 (25) FARRAR Tyler, GARMIN SHARP (GRS) 1
53 (26) MARKUS Barry, VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) 1
Teams:
1 (4) SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) GBR 193
2 (1) BLANCO PRO CYCLING TEAM (BLA) NED 158
3 (12) GARMIN SHARP (GRS) USA 94
4 (2) EUSKALTEL EUSKADI (EUS) ESP 93
5 (3) MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV) ESP 91
6 (5) RADIOSHACK LEOPARD (RLT) LUX 74
7 (-) AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) FRA 73
8 (10) BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) USA 68
9 (14) OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP CYCLING TEAM (OPQ) BEL 67
10 (6) LAMPRE-MERIDA (LAM) ITA 60
11 (-) KATUSHA (KAT) RUS 44
12 (15) VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (VCD) NED 23
13 (7) LOTTO BELISOL (LTB) BEL 20
14 (8) ORICA GREENEDGE (OGE) AUS 19
15 (9) FDJ (FDJ) FRA 15
16 (13) ASTANA PRO TEAM (AST) KAZ 7
17 (-) CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING (CAN) ITA 6
18 (-) TEAM ARGOS - SHIMANO (ARG) NED 6
19 (11) TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF (TST) DEN 2
Nations:
1 (1) SPAIN 182
2 (2) NETHERLANDS 175
3 (12) UNITED STATES 155
4 (10) FRANCE 143
5 (6) AUSTRALIA 132
6 (3) GREAT BRITAIN 78
7 (5) ITALY 66
8 (4) BELGIUM 60
9 (-) SLOVENIA 41
10 (7) GERMANY 34
11 (8) PORTUGAL 11
12 (-) SLOVAKIA 6
13 (-) SWITZERLAND 6
14 (9) FINLAND 4
15 (-) RUSSIA 4
16 (-) KAZAKHSTAN 4
17 (-) COLOMBIA 2
18 (11) NORWAY 2