Nat Bromhead
Three weeks out from the world’s biggest bike race, the Tour de France, and Richie Porte has enjoyed his biggest season victory to date, the Tour de Suisse.
Increasing his overall lead against a quality field – including many of the chief combatants he’ll be racing at the Tour – Porte rode a strong final stage time trial to increase his podium buffer to 57 seconds. Jakob Fuglsang of Astana finished overall second with Nairo Quintana third.
Historic Day For BMC Racing Team
Described as a historic day for BMC Racing Team, a team currently under a 2019 sponsorship cloud with the very real possibility of not continuing in the WorldTour, Stefan Küng of BMC wore the yellow jersey for the first four days of the race with Porte holding it for the remaining stages.
Saying it was the biggest win of his career, Richie Porte told team media that winning the Tour of Switzerland eclipsed previous career highlights including winning Paris-Nice, the Volta Catalunya and Tour de Romandie.
“This race is so special and to come here after the passing of Andy Rihs earlier in the season and win his home Tour is a massive satisfaction,” he said. “I dedicate this win to Andy.”
A Good Sign For Le Tour
Porte said with the Tour just under three weeks away, it was “a good sign to win here.”
“I’m ready for the Tour de France,” he said. “I did a good race here. I’m not at the top of my form just yet so I am excited for July.”
“Before this race, I hadn’t raced since Tour de Romandie. I was at home for the birth of my son two weeks ago and I’ve only had one night at home with him so, I think it’s great for me to get to go home for a bit of time before a training camp and then hopefully I’ll be better at the Tour de France.”
Taking place on Saturday the 7th of July, the Grand Depart of the 105th Tour de France is on Île de Noirmoutier, a small bridged island off the Atlantic coast of France. Bicycling Australia will deliver stage by stage updates, images and video content as we do with each and every Grand Tour.
