Porte, 32, joined BMC Racing Team in 2016 and has recorded two UCI WorldTour stage race wins, five stage wins, and fifth overall at the 2016 Tour de France, during that time.
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FINISH: Richie Porte of Australia and BMC Racing Team rides towards the finish line of stage twelve of the 2016 Le Tour de France.
“We have the right team and I am ready to do my best to get there”. This year he has claimed two overall race wins and four stage triumphs, as well as second spot at the Criterium du Dauphine, making him a serious threat in the general classification.
The appearance of Richie Porte here in Dusseldorf on Thursday just happened to coincide with an update on the search for the driver who knocked Chris Froome off his bike near Monaco last month.
– Mark Cavendish has won 30 stages of the Tour de France, only Eddy Merckx (34) has more stage victories in the history of the race. Last year, he proved more adept than any of his rivals in gaining time with surprise attacks in the Pyrenees and at Montpellier.
This year, however, viewers and commentators alike will be able to enjoy more in-depth analysis and insight than previously available thanks to the race’s technology partner Dimension Data.
However given his long recovery from injury, Cummings is still eager to reduce the pressure in himself, saying that he would not be disappointed if he came away from the Tour without a stage win, so long as he gave his best.
At just 14 kilometers (8.7 miles), the opening time trial in Stage 1 in Duesseldorf is short enough for a good number of riders to harbor ambitions of winning it and becoming the first wearer of the race leader’s iconic yellow jersey – a guaranteed highlight of any rider’s career.
“Today, our followers want to be immersed in the event”, said Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France race director.
I’m going to have to make sure I’m absolutely at my best and to take advantage of any situations out on the road.
“We’ve done wheel changes and things like that in training”, he said.
Instead, the Tour organisers have created a nervous, punchy course where opportunities for gaining great swathes of time are very limited – and chances of ambushing Froome abound.
“There’s good reason to get excited”, Robbie McEwen – a three-time victor of the Tour de France’s green jersey – told The New Daily.
“The UK now has some serious strength in depth across all types of terrain, so expect to see GB riders contesting daily wins, especially in the medium mountain stages”.
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With the 2017 Tour de France starting on Saturday, our friends at GCN picked out 10 riders to look out for in the competition. They’re more digitally engaged on social media than ever before, and want a live and compelling second-screen experience during the Tour. The victor of the last mountain stage has gone on to win the Tour four times in the past decade, and on only one occasion was the rider in yellow at this point not the final Tour victor (Cadel Evans in 2010, since you asked).
