Last hurrah for Tasmanian star at world’s most gruelling event
A decade after making his Tour de France debut, Richie Porte will have one last crack at personal glory in 2020, fuelled by the sacrifice of missing a major family milestone.
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THE agonising decision to miss the birth of his second child will fuel Richie Porte to leave nothing in the tank in his last Tour de France riding “for himself”.
Tasmania’s two wheeled rocket will line up for his 10th start at the most gruelling event on the planet, motivated as much as ever to fulfil a lifelong dream of finishing on the podium.
And while conceding it will be an enormous challenge to remain in contention against dominant outfits Team Ineos and Jumbo-Visma – having been considered a race favourite for the past few years – Porte will have a driving force in the back of his mind.
Already a father to two-year-old son Luca, Porte and wife Gemma are expecting a daughter in the second week of September, two weeks into the race to Paris.
With his wife’s blessing, the 35-year-old made the call to make it one of his last, if not his final, appearance for current outfit Trek-Segafedo, with an announcement on his transfer to a rival team expected at the conclusion of the Tour.
“Of course I had the conversation with my wife but ultimately, it is what I’m paid to do. It has given me a fantastic lifestyle from riding my bike,” Porte said in an interview with the Sunday Tasmanian.
“It’s really mentally hard to get your head around, for me especially, a baby due in September.
“Normally the timing would have been absolutely perfect, that I’m at home and done for the season but most likely I’ll have to miss that now.
“The team pays me to ride my bike so we kind of agreed that was the decision I had to make.
“At the same time, when I see the photo on the wall with my wife and I with my first born son and then it is most likely I am not going to have that with my daughter, it does sort of make the decision a little bit harder.
“She [Gemma] watches the race on television and if I’m at the back of the peloton just making up the numbers, she would never say it in a harsh way, but I am not going there just be making up the numbers.
“It’s been one of the hardest things to have to choose between, but I have done the training I have to do and the racing block I did was one of the most intense.
“Everyone has come back from this lockdown super motivated and strong and I am looking forward to going to the Tour and seeing what happens.”
After two serious crashes in 2017 and 2018, both of which left him in hospital when he was well placed to have a serious tilt at overall honours, Porte is realistic about his chances for this year’s three-week grind.
He finished 15th at the Critérium du Dauphiné, his final lead in event to the Tour, and is arguably more hopeful than confident of giving the Grand Tour a shake.
“Of course that [finishing on the podium] is always the target but when I look at Ineos and Jumbo-Visma, they are two incredibly strong teams and we saw if those two teams aren’t there to control races like in the last stage of the Dauphine, then it’s just going to be a free for all.
“It’s not going to be easy, and at my age, you are coming up against guys in their prime, 27 and 28-year bracket.
“I am not going to beat around the bush, it is definitely going to be a hard ask this year. The last few days of the Tour this year are exceptionally brutal in the Alps.
“But I go there fully motivated and I will do my best every day.
“It is just such a stressful sport professional cycling, I really see myself after this year taking a step back and going into more of a helper role in the big races.
“That doesn’t mean I am not motivated to still try and win races, if I turn up in top shape I can still challenge in some of the races.
“But for me, this year is the last one where I definitely say I am going to the Tour to try and do something for myself.”
The other lingering doubt in the back of not only Porte’s mind but the rest of the peloton’s is COVID-19, which forced the Tour to push back its start date and implement a host of changes in an attempt to simply get to the finish line.
One of the most famous customs will end this year when the post-race podium ritual of the winner being flanked by two young, attractive women comes to an end, while teams will be booted if two riders or staff show symptoms or test positive to the virus.
“If the race goes to Paris, if it makes three weeks, it’s going to be a credit to not just the organisers but the teams and the riders, how everybody is going to have to do their part to minimise the contact,” Porte said.
“Hopefully the virus doesn’t wreak havoc.
“It’s not going to be a normal Tour, teams have got that big challenge now to minimise contact we have with the outside world and it is all masks and hand washing, it is unparalleled.”
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