Porte suddenly our big Tour hope

Australia's Richie Porte is a genuine chance of taking out the Tour de France. Source: AFP

RICHIE Porte has long been seen as Cadel Evans' heir apparent when it comes to Australia's next great Tour de France hope.

But no one, probably not even the man himself, expected the baton to be passed so quickly.

However it just so happens that the first Tour de France Evans has missed in 10 years coincides with Porte having to step up after his leader at Team Sky and defending champion Chris Froome crashed out.

The most dramatic first week of a Tour de France in memory claimed the scalp of some of the peloton's biggest names including Froome, Mark Cavendish, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck all before the first rest day.

And as soon as Froome abandoned by getting into the team car battered and bruised after three crashes in two days, Porte became the man.

If Sky is to claim three consecutive yellow jerseys then it's suddenly up to a 29-year-old former Launceston pool lifeguard who came to cycling from triathlon when he was 21.

It wasn't so long ago (2009) Porte was still slugging it out on the continental scene with Tasmanian team Praties — now known as Avanti which races the National Road Series.

His first coach and owner/manager of the team Andrew Christie-Johnson remembers Porte starting out in cycling in 2006.

"He was a C-Grader in Tasmania riding handicaps so he's come a long way," said Christie-Johnson, who gets a text message from Porte after every stage of this year's Tour.

"I saw a steady progression but 2008 was the turning point and that's when we could see something special in Richie.

"He was fifth overall at the Herald Sun Tour and fourth place that year was Chris Froome riding for Barloworld but Chris had been riding a fair bit longer than him at that stage.

"He's a great guy, he appreciates help and when he comes back (to Tasmania) he comes on our training camps and tests our guys.

"Every single night of the Tour so far he's texted me so he's a good mate of mine.

"But the same way, if you do something bad by him he doesn't forget either."

When the Tour de France resumed last night after Tuesday's rest day with Stage 11 near the Swiss border, Porte was second overall, 2mins 23 secs behind Italian race leader Vincenzo Nibali.

Richie Porte celebrates winning stage five of this year's Tour Down Under. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Limited

Nibali is also 29 but has already won the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. Contador might have gone home in a significant boost for Porte's yellow jersey chances, but Nibali is no mug.

Neither is Bauke Mollema (6th last year), Tejay van Garderen (5th in 2012) or Jurgen Van den Broeck (4th in 2012).

There is pressure on Porte as the new 'leader' of the biggest cycling team in the biggest bike race in the world.

But he finds himself in a win-win situation.

If he gives it everything he's got and becomes just the second Australian to win the Tour de France, then he'll become a legend.

But if he gives it everything he's got and falls short then he's no worse off, except perhaps for going home wondering if a golden opportunity had just gone begging.

But Sky is already down to seven men after losing Froome and Spanish all-rounder Xabi Zandio who also crashed out, so it's going to take a massive ask from here.

But Porte is a fighter and showed last year when he lights it up on the long, gradual climbs, besides Froome there's not too many others who can go the journey with him.

One of the big questions lingering over Porte is just how race fit is he, given illness forced him to miss the Giro d'Italia and then fail to finish Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour of Romandie this year.

But he hit back hard in the Criterium du Dauphine and the week before the Tour told News Corp he was "right where I need to be" and in fact felt fresher than ever.

Certainly in the first 10 days of this year's race he's shown he's up for the challenge.

A lot could happen in the Alps, but the penultimate stage of this year's race is a 54km time trial which could well decide the Tour.

Coincidentally, the penultimate stage of the 2012 Tour was a 53.5km time trial and was also the last time Porte and Nibali raced the Tour together.

That day, Porte put 1min 13 secs into his Italian rival but that was two years ago and this year's time trial is on completely different terrain.

Last weekend, SBS aired an interview, presumably shot long before the Tour even started, in which Porte said if he just podiumed in a Grand Tour in his career then he could retire to Tasmania a happy man.

But now Porte is suddenly in with a shot at not only standing on the podium but winning the Tour altogether whether he is ready for it or not.

For all the success of Orica-GreenEDGE and Simon Gerrans' incredible performances in the Classics, there is nothing like an Aussie contender for the yellow jersey to capture the imagination of the wider Australian sporting public.

Porte has accepted that responsibility with open arms and an entire nation of bleary-eyed cycling fans are behind him, willing him all the way to Paris.

Originally published as Porte suddenly our big Tour hope

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