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Richie Porte says second Paris-Nice title is 'sweeter' than the first

Australian admits two stage wins and bouncing back from crash made 2015 success more special than 2013

Richie Porte on stage seven of the 2015 Paris-Nice
Image: Richie Porte sealed a second Paris-Nice title by winning stage seven

Team Sky’s Richie Porte admitted winning two stages and bouncing back from a crash made the second overall Paris-Nice victory of his career “sweeter” than the first.

The Australian followed up his triumph in 2013 by sealing the 2015 title with a dominant victory on the stage seven uphill time trial on Col d’Eze on Sunday.

The win came less than 24 hours after Porte almost threw away his chances of a second title on Saturday’s sixth stage, when both he and team-mate Geraint Thomas crashed on a wet descent and lost vital time.

Richie Porte on stage seven of the 2015 Paris-Nice

“Basically we threw time away yesterday, Geraint and myself,” Porte, who also won stage four, said. “We were in a fantastic position, but to both crash like that, there was a little bit too much tyre pressure in our tyres yesterday.

“It wasn’t ideal, but for me to win this is just a fantastic feeling. It’s one of the iconic races and this one feels a little bit sweeter than the last one. It was hard. They threw everything they had at us yesterday and to win on the top of the Col d’Eze, like last time, is incredible.”

Porte, who is the Australian national time trial champion, now has six victories to his name this season and appears perfectly placed ahead of his bid for overall victory at the Giro d’Italia in May.

His next race will be supporting Chris Froome at the Volta a Catalunya from March 23-29 and Porte is optimistic that Team Sky’s fine form so far in 2015 can continue.

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He added: “Now going into Catalunya, we have got a fantastic team. With Wout Poels winning yesterday [at Tirreno-Adriatico] and Chris Froome to come back, it’s good for our team. We had a rollercoaster season last year but we are back now.”

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