Richie Porte (INEOS Grenadiers) ended his Grand Tour journey where it started, on the roads of the Giro d’Italia.
Back in 2010, Porte sprung to prominence with an unlikely stint in the pink jersey enroute to a fine seventh overall. He would go on to greater feats at the Tour de France, culminating in a podium finish in 2020, but he returned to the Italian Grand Tour for his final attempt at a three-week race.
Porte, who is due to retire at the end of this season, withdrew midway through Stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia and was reportedly physically sick during the race as he attempted to grit his way through a bout of gastroenteritis contracted overnight.
The Tasmanian continued on for about 20 kilometres at the rear of the race and indicated to cameras in the race that he would try to continue, but ultimately he called time on his Giro with 80 kilometres and still the major climbs remaining in the stage.
The loss comes as a blow to race leader Richard Carapaz, with Porte the last man for his team leader throughout the Giro d’Italia to date, the Tasmanian one of the reasons the Ecuadorian is in a strong position at present, three seconds ahead of Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe) in the battle for the overall win.
“He’s a significant loss,” said Carapaz. “He’s a man for the climbs and has done a great job in that role on the days up to now.
“We knew that he wasn’t feeling that good. He tried to hold on at the beginning of the stage, but the pace was too high and we lost him. He’s an important rider, but the team is motivated.”
Porte was in a super-domestique role at the Giro, stating that he welcomed not having the pressure of being a team leader and that he was motivated to work for Richard Carapaz as the nominated rider for the overall win.
While Porte has declared the Giro d’Italia his final Grand Tour, he plans to continue racing through the rest of 2022, he’s already shown good form with fourth overall at Tirreno-Adriatico and seventh at the Tour of the Alps and he could well finish his career at the home world championships in Wollongong later this year.
The 37-year-old’s Grand Tour career spanned 11 Tours de France, 4 Giros d’Italia and 2 Vueltas a Espana, a total of 325 days of racing across the legendary three-week races.
The Giro d'Italia continues tonight with a decisive stage in the overall battle for the pink jersey, with a monstrous day of climbing set to see the top climbers in the race battle it out. Watch the full stage from 8.05pm AEST on SBS On Demand with the SBS coverage starting at 10.30pm AEST. WA viewers can watch from 8.30pm AWST.
