With a character-building season now behind him, Richie Porte has his sights firmly fixed on a successful 2015.
Tasmanian motivated heading into winter
With a character-building season now behind him, Richie Porte has his sights firmly fixed on a successful 2015.
This year was supposed to pan out differently for the Tasmanian, with a leadership role at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France wingman duties for Chris Froome his key priorities. Neither box was ticked however, as the pair saw luck desert them.
Despite the setbacks, Porte still found himself sitting in second place overall at the Tour de France after 12 stages. Again it wasn’t to be, with sickness denying the Team Sky rider a dream podium finish at the world’s biggest bike race.
After finishing his season early, Porte has taken the time to recuperate and return to full health. Now visibly refreshed and motivated as he heads into a block of winter training, the 29 year old is looking to return to what he does best – dishing out pain at the front of the peloton.
“Probably the only good thing about having a bad year is that it does make you hungrier,” he told
TeamSky.com.
“It was a rough season. It started well and I was where I needed to be in January and February, but I got sick a few times which meant I didn’t had the most straightforward year. In October I came off a month of antibiotics and I feel much, much better.
“I’m coming into this period seven kilos lighter than I was at this time last year. I’m definitely ready to go and ready to really step it up. I’d love to have a big year.”
Motivation
To lay the foundations for the next 12 months, Porte has split his time between Europe and Tasmania as he prepares to put in the hard yards.
“I was in Europe in October and got into a good routine,” he explained. “I’ve been doing a lot of gym work and a lot of swimming and walking. The weather was great in Monaco so I loved being out on the bike. It was all quite inspiring.
“This off-season I finished earlier, so I’ve had to start again earlier. I’ve been rolling home via the Col de la Madone, which is probably the most famous climb where I’m based. I really enjoy doing that and during the season Froomey and I often train together and go over La Madone.
“Now I’m back in Tasmania. It’s something I’d really been looking forward to. The government has just spent a lot of money on mountain bike trails which is also great in the off-season. I’m healthy and it’s good to be fit going into a big block of winter training.”
The motivation is clear to see, with a number of factors all contributing to Porte’s outlook, on and off the bike.
“Together with the team we’ve done some great work on the time trial bike and I feel much more comfortable now. I feel really happy with where we’re at. Little things like that will all help. I’ve got a great new girlfriend and it’s nice to build up to a new year in a different frame of mind.”
Bouncing back
Able to look back at this year’s Tour de France with the benefit of hindsight, Porte gained experience of Grand Tour leadership and will use the summer’s disappointment as fuel going forward.
“Obviously the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that the Tour is hard enough as it is without throwing in some sickness. It was a disaster when Chris went home but the form I had going into the Tour was quite good.
"I got through the rough stuff - which was basically the first 12 stages - sitting second on GC. That was the dream as it's always been my ambition to finish on the podium in the Tour, but then it turned into a nightmare. Obviously I think about it as a missed opportunity, but you’ve got to get on with it.”
Porte, along with the rest of Team Sky, will be hoping to put a tough year firmly behind them over the winter.
“We had two years of massive success. It’s almost like we needed to have this year. But we’ve also had a lot of bad luck – with Geraint (Thomas) at Paris-Nice, Sergio (Henao’s) crash, myself, Yogi (Ian Stannard) and Froomey. It hasn’t been a straightforward year. I guess it’s hard to measure luck, but we’ve had our fair share of bad. It just makes everyone doubly determined to have a great season next year.”
