VIDEO: Richie Porte Rides Away From The Field To Blitz Stage 7 Of 'The Race In The Sun'

After a less than impressive start to this year’s Paris-Nice, BMC Racing’s Richie Porte’s fortunes have taken a massive turn for the better, the Tasmanian blitzing the field to win Stage 7 of the race in emphatic style.

Speaking to their main man shortly after his big win of the Queen stage of this year’s Paris-Nice, the BMC Racing’s media team asked Richie how it felt to win the stage.

“It hurt so much but it was such a sweet victory after the disaster we had early in the week,” he said. “But I must take my hat off to the team, they were absolutely incredible all week and they never lost faith in me. So I say a big thank you to them. I wasn’t always easy to deal with this week.”

You’ve had a lot of success at Paris-Nice. How important was it for you to win a stage?

“I love this race,” said Richie. “It means so much to me. To win a stage here is incredible. It gives an incredible feeling of satisfaction. Words don’t sum it up.”

Tell us Richie, how did Stage 7 play out for you?

“I did know this climb. Two weeks ago we did reconnaissance of it. It was a beautiful climb. We were lucky with the weather that we could get this high. It’s the highest finish of Paris-Nice ever which is incredible. I’ll take great memories from this.”

“It was hard to line up on Tuesday after stage 2, but it makes you a little bit hungrier. I had a couple of little goes at it on the way up. I didn’t so much as attack, but more rolled off the front a little bit there. The others didn’t have to chase me for GC but the last 3km were absolute hell. To finish it off is a great way to finish the week.”

“The boys rode on the front basically from kilometer 0 to put me in the good position. I must tip by hat to those guys. It’s not over. We still have another hard stage tomorrow. It’s nice for me to take a bit of a backseat and sit back and watch the fireworks. I think it’s going to be a spectacle tomorrow. It will be a really exciting race.”

Does this give you confidence for the next part of the season?

“It’s good signs for me. I have a new coach David Bailey who has really been good this last year and I think we are on a good path for July. My climbing is up there with the best in the world. So we’ll take it race by race now, but I’m looking forward to July for sure.”

Paris-Nice Stage 8 (Final Stage)

A short final stage punctuated by climbs, you can be sure Trek-Segafredo's Alberto Contador will attack early to try to make up the 31 second deficit he has to race leader Sergio Henao of Team Sky. — A short final stage punctuated by climbs, you can be sure Trek-Segafredo’s Alberto Contador will attack early to try to make up the 31 second deficit he has to race leader Sergio Henao of Team Sky.

2017 Paris-Nice Top 20 After Stage 7

1. HENAO MONTOYA Sergio 101 TEAM SKY 27h 01′ 15”
2. MARTIN Daniel 61 QUICK – STEP FLOORS + 00′ 30”
3. CONTADOR Alberto 11 TREK – SEGAFREDO + 00′ 31”
4. IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka 86 MOVISTAR TEAM + 01′ 00”
5. ALAPHILIPPE Julian 62 QUICK – STEP FLOORS + 01′ 22”
6. ZAKARIN Ilnur 21 TEAM KATUSHA ALPECIN + 01′ 34”
7. IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Jon 31 BAHRAIN – MERIDA + 01′ 41”
8. GALLOPIN Tony 51 LOTTO SOUDAL + 03′ 22”
9. BARGUIL WARREN 153 TEAM SUNWEB + 04′ 07”
10.YATES Simon 41 ORICA – SCOTT + 04′ 39”
11. GILBERT Philippe 65 QUICK – STEP FLOORS + 13′ 41”
12. PORTE Richie 1 BMC RACING TEAM + 14′ 26”
13. MOLARD Rudy 117 FDJ + 15′ 01”
14. HARDY Romain 204 FORTUNEO – VITAL CONCEPT + 17′ 21”
15. FUGLSANG Jakob 131 ASTANA PRO TEAM + 18′ 07”
16. OOMEN Sam 156 TEAM SUNWEB + 19′ 15”
17. ROCHE Nicolas 4 BMC RACING TEAM + 24′ 57”
18. PANTANO Jarlinson 15 TREK – SEGAFREDO + 25′ 07”
19. TANKINK Bram 96 TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO + 27′ 23”
20. FINETTO Mauro 211 DELKO MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM + 27′ 33”