Richie Porte up to third in Tour de France

A STRONG climb has lifted Aussie Richie Porte to third place overall after the first mountain stage of the Tour de France.

Australia's Richie Porte takes the start of the 161 km eighth stage of the 101st edition of the Tour de France cycling race on July 12, 2014 between Tomblaine and Gerardmer La Mauselaine, eastern France. AFP PHOTO / JEFF PACHOUD

A STRONG climbing performance has lifted Australian Richie Porte to third place overall after the first mountain stage of the Tour de France.

Porte finished fourth on the 161km eighth stage from Tomblaine to the ski station at Garardmer, won by Frenchman Blel Kadri.

Alberto Contador took second place ahead of Vincenzo Nibali, who retained the yellow jersey after crossing the line third just ahead of Porte.

Kadri, 27, became the first home winner of a stage this year.

He was part of a five-man breakaway that finally managed to stay away after a breakneck first 30km that prevented several prior attempts from sticking.

The Ag2R rider countered an attack from compatriot and fellow-escapee Sylvain Chavanel on the first of three categorised climbs and from then on he simply rode away from the rest.

Porte crosses the finish line of the eighth stage. Picture: Peter Dejong

Behind him, Contador’s Tinkoff-Saxo team turned up the heat as the Spanish two-time winner looked to gain back some time on Nibali.

The Italian matched him all the way up the final, brutal 1.8km climb at an average gradient of 10.3 per cent until the final 100m where Contador stretched ahead.

He picked up only three seconds but the psychological effect of knowing he could finally drop Nibali, albeit only just at the end, will have boosted Contador’s confidence.

Behind them Porte, the new Team Sky leader after reigning champion Chris Froome’s abandonment on Wednesday, came in four seconds behind Nibali.

The final climb provided the first indication of who will fight for the overall title and Contador, Nibali and Porte gave a strong sign that they may well occupy the podium in Paris.

Nibali is 1min 44 sec ahead of Astana teammate Jakob Fuglsang, Porte is at 1:58 while sixth-placed Contador is at 2:34.

Originally published as Richie Porte up to third in Tour de France