Tour Down Under 2018: Richie Porte’s record bittersweet

Australian star conquers Old Willunga Hill for an unprecedented fifth time but is denied the Tour Down Under’s ochre jersey.

Richie Porte celebrates after crossing the finish line to win stage five of the 2018 Tour Down Under on January 20.

Australian star Richie Porte has conquered Old Willunga Hill for an unprecedented fifth time but admitted it was bittersweet after he was denied the Tour Down Under’s ochre jersey on countback by South African Daryl Impey.

Porte has all but conceded his hopes of winning back-to-back TDU crowns are over with he and Impey going into Sunday’s final sprinter-friendly stage locked on the same time.

The BMC star launched his trademark attack 1km from the top of the climb and looked headed for the race lead before Impey leapt from the chasing pack to finish second by eight seconds.

On time bonus calculations and the sum of each rider’s placings throughout the week, Impey — who finished second on three stages — was rewarded for his versatility and consistency with the ochre jersey.

“Geez I tell you what that’s the hardest one to win so far,” Porte said. “I felt great, the guys looked after me but it hurt so much.

“To be up here and win Willunga for a fifth year in a row I’m happy but of course I would have loved to have won the overall.

“But Daryl is quick, he’s been second here two times against guys like Sagan so realistically I don’t really have a chance to move up.

“If I was good enough to win I would have won it here on Willunga, hats off to Daryl, he’s a good mate, a fantastic bike rider, so I have to be happy with second.

“But I’m happy with where I am all things considered ... it has been a tough time after (last year) it was a nasty crash that knocked me around but I think maybe I can have the best season of my career and I’m motivated for that.”

Impey revealed Mitchelton-Scott came into the TDU with a secret plan for him to target the general classification but publicly said it was only aiming for stage wins with Caleb Ewan.

“We came with the objective for Caleb for sure but kept it on the downlow that we were going to target GC as well,” Impey said.

“I actually took some pressure coming into this race so it’s nice to deliver.

“I’ve gone pretty well up Willunga before but maybe not this well and to have the team commit for Caleb and me was special.”

After crossing the line second behind Porte, Impey faced an agonising 20-minute wait for confirmation that he was the new race leader.

It is the second time the TDU has been decided on countback after Simon Gerrans won from Alejandro Valverde on the same time in 2012.

“Coming to the line I saw five, six (seconds) so thought ‘gee I’m

pretty close here I better sprint to the end’,” Impey said.

“It was pretty anxious moments at the finish because some guys were saying ‘oh you’ve got it, oh wait for confirmation, you’ve got it, wait, hold on, it’s unconfirmed’, so it was a bit stressful.

“Richie said he would prefer me to win out of everyone else so that was nice, he’s obviously disappointed but he at least won today’s stage and he’s a great bike rider so to be even close to guys like him is a step in the right direction for me.”

World champion Peter Sagan surrendered the ochre jersey while working for his Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Jay McCarthy as Dimension Data’s 2013 TDU champion Tom Jelte-Slagter moved up to third overall.

“It’s better to try than do nothing and I am proud of him that he tried to stay with Richie, it’s a race and cycling is difficult,” Sagan said.

The TDU victory will be a fitting reward for Impey who has dedicated much of his career to helping others as a domestique and it will be Mitchelton-Scott’s fourth TDU win in six years.