A crash near the Stirling finish line has 2017 TDU winner Richie Porte a little banged up, but not out of Paracombe battle
There’s only 16 seconds between race leader Caleb Ewan and 2017 and 2015 Santos Tour Down Under winners Richie Porte and Rohan Dennis ahead of a crucial Stage 3 at Paracombe on Thursday.
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Paracombe has been part of the Santos Tour Down Under twice for a finish, but history suggests the stage winner will also take out the general classification.
The Torrens Hill Road climb towards Paracombe featured in 2015 and 2017.
SA’s Rohan Dennis, 29, and Tasmania’s Richie Porte, 34, went on to win those respective editions of the Tour after they both had a firm grip on the ochre jersey at Paracombe before claiming the overall title.
Porte and Dennis are 16 seconds behinds race leader Caleb Ewan from Lotto Soudal after the Australian won Stage 2 in Stirling on Wednesday.
Team INEOS’s Dennis’s nerve was tested outside of Stirling on Wednesday.
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A puncture about 9.9km from the Stirling finish line almost ruined Dennis’s chances of having a running battle with his former teammate Porte in the battle of Paracombe.
His team was quick to replace the wheel, but getting Dennis back to a flying peloton wasn’t as easy as it looked.
“If you win up Paracombe you’ll be pretty hard to beat overall,’’ Dennis said, after his teammate Luke Rowe led the South Australian world time trial champion safely back to the bunch.
“But there are a lot of bonus seconds to get and you’ve seen (two-time reigning champion) Daryl Impey win this race with bonus seconds.
“It’s not guaranteed (general classification) if you win Paracombe, but it does help.
“I think with Richie last time in 2017 when he won (Paracombe) he took about 20 seconds out of everyone, so that was the faster way to come into the climb.
“It’s a bit harder this time and that’s even better, he really is the guy to beat.
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Porte’s finale wasn’t without drama.
The Tasmanian was caught in a crash about 1.4km from the end, which could have had a premature ending to his title hopes, but Dennis hopes his former teammate is fit enough to contest the race to Paracombe.
“He got caught up in the crash (outside Stirling), I’m not sure what the damage is for him, hopefully nothing, but I still want to put the pressure back on him,’’ Dennis said.
Porte may have wait to see whether a knock to the knee from a crash in Stirling would have any impact on his Tour hopes.
“I got a bit of a bump to the knee, but it’s all good,’’ Porte said.
“The guys (teammates) were awesome, they kept me out of trouble for another day.
“I hope everyone is all right after the crash, there might be some sore fellows.
“But Paracombe, it’s all about getting into the right position.
“I needed to be in that position in 2015, I went into the climb with a perfect position.
“Rohan came in from behind in 2015 ... I think it will be nice to get some of my teammates up there, but it’s such a hard climb, it’s all about the legs. ”
Originally published as A crash near the Stirling finish line has 2017 TDU winner Richie Porte a little banged up, but not out of Paracombe battle
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