Tour Down Under 2015: Australia’s top two GC riders to go head-to-head in Adelaide

CADEL Evans and Richie Porte are at odds over who is the favourite for this week’s Santos Tour Down Under as Australia’s two best Grand Tour riders prepare to go head to head in Adelaide.

17/1/15 - Tour Down Under pre-race press conference with the favourites - Richie Porte at the Hilton. - Photo Naomi Jellicoe

CADEL Evans and Richie Porte are at odds over who is the favourite for this week’s Santos Tour Down Under as Australia’s two best Grand Tour riders prepare to go head to head in Adelaide.

Despite finishing runner-up by just one second last year and winning the mountains jersey three times at this race in the past, Evans was yesterday downplaying his chances for the tour which for the first time includes two hill-top stage finishes.

While riders will line up in the People’s Choice Classic criterium in the city tonight, the race proper begins with the 132.7km Stage 1 from Tanunda to Campbelltown on Tuesday.

“I’m (in) good (form) but I don’t know if I’ll be the best guy uphill here though,” Evans said.

“I’m sure there’s going to be a few guys other than the obvious Richie who are riding okay, I think one or two Orica-GreenEDGE riders will also be good.

“Every year it seems more and more riders come from Australia and Europe well prepared and there is more depth to the race.

“So even if I was as good as I was last year it doesn’t necessarily mean it would be good enough to get the result or fight for the win like last year.

“It’s not really a race that’s designed for me, I’m more for longer climbs and time trials but because it’s in Australia and early in the season I’ve always been motivated to race here.

“And when there’s been a stage that’s been a little more selective I’ve always tried to use that to my advantage and focus on those stages where it is more suited to the type of rider that I am.”

Team Sky’s Porte showed his blistering form last week when he won the time trial in a world class field at the national championships. Last year he finished fourth at the TDU and produced the ride of the week to win the queen stage up Old Willunga Hill, but yesterday said he did not see himself as the outright favourite for the ochre jersey.

Marcel Kittel. Photo Naomi Jellicoe

Heinrich Haussler. Photo: Naomi Jellicoe

“There is obviously Cadel going well and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) who can climb and sprint,” Porte said.

“There’s many favourites here but I’m in good form and have a good team here and I’m just looking forward to getting the racing started and see what I can do.

“Last year Willunga was about the highlight of my season so I’d like to be good on that again, I know I’m going better this year than I was this time last year.

“I also think the third stage is going to be quite decisive but I’m not sure there’s going to be big time gaps there so I think it’s going to come down to Willunga to settle the race.”

Porte said last week’s time trial win had given him the confidence that he had rebounded from a disastrous 2014 season which was ruined by illness.

“My confidence last year took a fair old beating and I thought it was going to be a little easier than it was — riding the Giro, big opportunity, great team behind me,” he said.

“But I came back to Tassie in November and I’ve done two good months, I said to a few of the journalists the other night — you can count the number of nights I’ve had out on the p*** on one hand.

“I’m very motivated and ready to step it up.

“It’s a big honour to ride with Cadel in his last race, he’s been the best we’ve ever had out of Australia and probably will be because I know how hard it is to win the Tour de France, I’ve been there with Bradley (Wiggins) and Chris (Froome) and it’s not an easy thing to do.

“But my big goal is the Giro and I’m so motivated to go there in great form, it was good to get a good time trial out like that (last week) so starting here the mental approach to things I need to believe that I can start winning these races and that’s the goal.”

Tuesday’s Stage 1 — which will visit the Adelaide Hills region that was hit by bushfires a fortnight ago — features the Checker Hill climb inside the final 30km which may cause the peloton to splinter but is likely to finish with a sprint.

But as last year’s overall winner Simon Gerrans showed by winning Stage 1, riders with General Classification ambitions cannot afford to be caught at the back with crucial time bonuses up for grabs at the finish line.

Originally published as Tour Down Under 2015: Australia’s top two GC riders to go head-to-head in Adelaide