Australian Richie Porte stunned race favorites in the Tour of Romandie's stage three time trial with a scorching ride in what was his biggest victory to date. The 25 year old put an incredible 26 seconds on second placed Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) in the 23.4 kilometer effort, with Russian Vladimir Karpets finishing third another second back.
"It's a massive surprise for me," Porte said after the finish.
"I crashed in the prologue on the first corner but I knew I had good form," he said of his surprise appearance on the top of the podium. "I've been training with Bradley McGee and have done everything he's said and look what's happened!
"For the last two days we've had no pressure on the team. I was 36 seconds down after he first half [of today's stage], but the win must have changed or something," he said, showing his class. "I had Bradley McGee in the car behind me he's great, I just turned the pedals!"
HTC-Columbia's Michael Rogers' fourth place finish, 28 seconds off the winning pace set by Porte, was enough to secure him the lead in the overall standings, with 20 year old Peter Sagan putting in an noble effort, but dropped completely out of the general classification. The young Slovakian will have plenty of career in front of him to iron out his technique in the discipline. Rogers' teammate and prologue winner Marco Pinotti was unlucky today, and had to contend with a light spattering of rain that spoiled his chances on the slippery streets through Moudon.
This is Porte's first year with the Saxo Bank team. He was brought on board after strong performances last year while riding for the Continental Praties team. He won a time trial stage in the Baby Giro, a stage in the Giro del Friuli-Venezia-Giulia and closed out the year with a win in the GP Citta di Felino.
Porte was complimentary of management when he said it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to see him ride well: "Bjarne [Riis] doesn't sign bad bike riders." His win will give him confidence going into his first Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia, which starts on May 8th in Amsterdam.
Tomorrow's 157.9 kilometer stage will take the peloton over to category one climbs on their way from Vevey to Châtel.
Tour of Romandie stage 3 results:
1. Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) in 30m 54s
2. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 26s
3. Vladimir Karperts (Katusha) @ 27s
4. Michael Rogers (Team HTC-Columbia) @ 29s
5. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 31s
6. Artem Ovechkin (Katusha) @ 31s
7. Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) @ 36s
8. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 51s
9. Simon Spilak (Lampre) @ 54s
10. Tiago Machado (RadioShack) @ 59s
Selected:
19. Marco Pinotti (Team HTC - Columbia) @ 1m 22s
30. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) @ 1m 35s
General classification following stage 3:
1. Michael Rogers (Team HTC-Columbia)
2. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 2s
3. Vladimir Karperts (Katusha) @ 6s
4. Artem Ovechkin (Katusha) @ 7s
5. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 9s
6. Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) @ 16s
7. Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) @ 18s
8. Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne) @ 24s
9. Simon Spilak (Lampre) @ 35s
10. Tiago Machado (RadioShack) @ 39s