Jake Latham
After seven stages in the French Nation, Richie Porte of BMC Racing took fourth place, only barely missing a spot on the podium.
Porte rode himself into second place on the Stage 1 Prologue and stayed there for almost the entirety of the race.
Alberto Contador of the Tinkoff squad lead the race until Team Sky’s Christopher Froome rode himself from third to second place on the General Classification standings after Stage 4 and into first place on Stage 5 and ultimately took the top honours as winner of the Criterium Du Dauphine as they crossed the line on Stage 7.
Porte and Froome battled it out for the top spot on the final day but on the last climb heading into Superdévoluy the pair tangled and Porte ended up against the barriers with no where to go in the final 500 meters before the line.
The group went by them and Porte knew he had lost his podium finish.
Porte had no one to blame but was visibly frustrated when he finished.
“His team put him almost into the barriers,” Porte said referring to Chris Froome and the Sky team. “He was telling them to go left and for some reason they went right. It’s just a racing incident. I’m sure nobody meant to do it, it’s just everybody is on their limit and that’s just one of those things that happens.
“But I think it will keep me hungry for July.”
Froome knows Porte will be a genuine threat at the Tour de France.
The Australian will now head to an altitude training camp with his BMC Racing team to prepare for the Tour de France later next month.
