The Coffee Ride: Richie Porte gets the keys to his Willunga kingdom from Onkaparinga Mayor

He was already the king of Willunga but now Richie Porte basically owns the joint as well. Plus, Roger Kluge’s great Aussie vacation and Manuele Boaro bounces back. All in today’s edition of The Coffee Ride.

CYCLING - Tour Down Under - Stage 6 - McLaren Vale to Willunga. Richie Porte, BMC crosses the finish line winning the Stage. Picture Sarah Reed

• Your home for all the TDU news
• Ice-cold Sagan sets Hills alight again
• Stage 3 wrap: Re-cap the action
• Turtur’s favourite Willunga Hill moments

Richie Porte was already the king of Willunga but now he basically owns the joint as well.

The Tasmanian, who continually professes his love of Adelaide when he returns for the Tour Down Under every year, is set to receive the key to the city of Onkaparinga in the city’s south.

Mayor Erin Thompson will present him with the key at the start of Stage 6 in McLaren Vale on Sunday morning before Porte attempts to win the Willunga Hill-top stage for the sixth year in a row.

Porte will also have his name on an honour board in the council chamber.

“I’m very grateful to the City of Onkaparinga to recognise me in this way,” Porte said.

“I love starting my racing season here every year because it’s such a great race in a beautiful

part of the world.

“It’ll be an exciting finish because who the overall winner will be, really, will go down to the last few metres of the race - hopefully I can end up on the good side of time splits, winning the last stage and taking the overall.”

KLUGE FAMILY VACATION

WHILE Roger Kluge clocks up hundreds of kilometres on the bike for Lotto-Soudal this week, his family is doing a road trip of their own Down Under.

Lotto-Soudal rider Roger Kluge of Germany with a snake at the Adelaide Tour Village. Picture: Tim de Waele/Getty Images

Kluge, his wife, three-year-old daughter and his mother-in-law arrived in Brisbane on Christmas Day and made their way south in a seven-seater to Melbourne for the Bay Crits.

Kluge then joined his lead-out man Caleb Ewan in flying to Adelaide for the TDU while his family took the scenic route and arrived in the city for Stage 2 on Wednesday.

“We drove the whole coast to Adelaide, stopping in Sydney and Melbourne and in smaller towns overnight,” Kluge said.

“We had New Year’s Eve in Sydney which was great to see the fireworks on the bridge it was amazing.”

The German said it took a week to get used to the feeling of driving on the left-hand-side of the road.

“You really have to think about it, and when you’re crossing the streets. Still now walking I always go to the right but it’s OK.”

BOUNCING BACK

He went over his handelbars on Stage 1, but @BoaroManuele went over the @subaruaustralia KOM marker in first place today 👑 #TourDownUnder pic.twitter.com/6qIbOQGWnV

— Santos Tour Down Under 🚴🚴‍♀️ (@tourdownunder) January 17, 2019

ITALIAN cyclist Manuele Boaro provided a highlight for the TV news on Stage 1 on Tuesday when he veered briefly off the road and flipped straight over his handlebars.

Thankfully Boaro was OK and he escaped with a few cuts and bruises, and after finishing safely on Stage 2 on Wednesday he made his move on Stage 3 yesterday.

Boaro got in the early breakaway from Lobethal and took the KOM points at Fox Creek.

BIG NEWS IN BELGIUM

BELGIUM is perhaps the undisputed king and queen of cycling coverage.

Friendly Belgian journalist Hugo Coorevits is leading the coverage of the Santos Tour Down Under with the Group Mediahuis in Adelaide this week.

Coorevits said the UCI WorldTour event was earning between two and four pages daily across Belgium’s newspapers including De Standaard, Het Belang van Limburg, and Gazet van Antwerpen. The group has also bought the Dutch Telegraaf which is here in Adelaide with reporters Hans Ruggenberg and Leon de Kort.

“We are with Flanders Classics, our group is also the organisers of all classics for the season races of the calendar like Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, De Ronde van Vlaanderen,’’ he said.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Thank you @airnzaustralia for not only your safety video but for the complimentary wifi to follow my bro racing on home roads during stage 3 of the @tourdownunder 👌🏼 Cheering from 11278m up! ✈️ Gooo @alexedmo 🙌🏼🙌🏼💨💨 #TDU2019

— Annette Edmondson (@NettieEdmo) January 17, 2019