In a big boost to its stage race strength, Team Sky has acquired the services of Australian Richie Porte for the 2012 season. The announcement was made today, bringing the talented time trialist and GC rider on board to especially focus on stage races.
"Richie is a rider that has everything - not only is he right up there with the best time triallers in the world, he can also climb and is not afraid to suffer when he is told to work for someone else either," said Team Sky Principal Dave Brailsford.
"Now is his time to shine - whether that’s in a Grand Tour or on a stage race like Paris-Nice, we’ll have to see, but it’s a long season and he’ll get plenty of opportunities."
Porte was relatively unknown when he joined Saxo Bank – Sungard in 2010 but quickly gained the attention of onlookers when he won the individual time trial in the Tour de Romandie, beating experienced riders like three times world champion Michael Rogers and Alejandro Valverde.
He’s since been sought after in the professional ranks with a number of teams said to be after his services.
"I'm really happy to have signed for Team Sky and cannot wait to see what next season will bring. Ever since the launch of the team I've been really impressed with the way they go about their business and it'll be nice to be able to experience that first-hand now,” he said.
Last year the Tasmanian native took part in his first Grand Tour at the Giro d’Italia and finished seventh overall after leading the race for three days. This year he again rode the Italian event but in support of team captain and eventual winner Alberto Contador.
"I had two great years at Saxo Bank-Sungard, and will be forever grateful to them for giving me my chance in the professional ranks, but am looking forward to opening this next chapter of my career now and hopefully taking things to another level," said Porte.
"I'll be targeting the week-long stage races initially, although it would be nice in the future to lead the team in a Grand Tour. My time trialling is another area I want to focus on, and having guys in the team like Bradley Wiggins and Michael Rogers will help me no end and I'll be looking to learn as much as I can from them."
To date, Porte boasts one victory this season, again coming in the race against the clock. He won the individual time trail in the Tour of Denmark in August and is expected to take part in the world time trial championships in Copenhagen later this month.