Richie Porte's dream Giro d'Italia continued on through the penultimate day in the mountains over the Mortirolo to the stage finish in Aprica. Things looked bleak early on for the current white jersey wearer as best young rider though. He was dropped in the opening moments of the fearsome ascent of the Mortirolo. The 13 km climb with a brutal 10.3 percent average grade looked to have finally ended the Porte fairy tale.
With his quick exit from the lead group on the climb, Porte was soon out of reach of the tv cameras, so little was known about his progress. A little while later, the tenacious Porte popped up in the third group on the road and finished a stellar 5:31 behind the dominant trio at the head of affairs. Though Porte lost some time overall and dropped back a few places to sixth, exactly six minutes behind new leader, Ivan Basso, he still holds a commanding lead in the young rider's competition and looks to have a top ten on the general classification sewn up barring a complete disaster in tomorrow's final day in the mountains.
Team director, Dan Frost, was pleased with his rider's efforts after the stage and explained Porte's tactics: "I think he keeps going so well, because he does not ride above himself. He does not try at all costs to keep up when the big names push the pace. Both he and we know that he must get dropped at certain points, so it is far wiser to immediately find a proper rhythm, which can be maintaned all the way."
"It paid off again today. He rode calmly and brought several riders back who had been fighting longer to follow the favorites ahead. Eventually, he found himself in a group that was also interested in reducing the time gap as much as possible, and so it was another good day for Richie and the entire team."
Porte was not only isolated from the cameras in his quest to stay to the fore of the Giro classification, but he was also completely adrift from his teammates. The strong Saxo Bank team found the going difficult in Stage 19, but luckily, Porte was more than up to the task on his own.
"The effort is no less impressive by the fact that he did not have anyone to help him on the Mortirolo. He went well on his own, but none of our other riders were able to stay with him when it really went up. Chris Anker Sorensen would under normal circumstances have been there, but he said early on that he felt bad today. He had an off-day, but we hope he is good and ready to help again tomorrow."
Frost is hopeful for Porte in tomorrow's stage and feels like a more controlled ride could be in store for the collective tired legs of the Giro.
"Richie is playing his cards just right by keeping his focus on his nearest rivals in the young rider competition instead of jumping into a headless adventure where he would explode sooner or later. Ivan took the jersey and showed everyone that that he is the strongest rider uphill, which could make tomorrow's stage a little easier for us in order to keep Richie's position despite the mountainous profile."