Friday 23 January 2015 06:57, UK
Richie Porte says he is ready for a potentially decisive battle on stage five of the Santos Tour Down Under after surviving a crash at the end of stage four unscathed.
The Team Sky leader was one of multiple riders brought down in a big pile-up inside the final 150m in Mt Barker.
He was able to remount his bike uninjured and finish, and now goes into the penultimate stage of the six-day race 15 seconds adrift of leader Rohan Dennis and eight seconds behind second-placed Cadel Evans.
Porte told teamsky.com: “I was there at the finish of it and did a little pirouette over the top. I did come down but not anything compared to some of the other guys.
“Today on paper it didn’t look like much but they are always the ones that are stressful from the start.”
Saturday's fifth stage ends with the 3.5km climb of Willunga Hill, where Porte claimed victory on the same stage last year.
He was aggressive that day and believes a similar approach could be beneficial once again.
“Tomorrow we just need as hard of a race as we can get, to be honest,” he added. “We’ll see how it plays out on the climb.
“Last year when I won I went pretty early. We’ll take it as it comes but I think it will be a fitting finish to the race.
“The race is not over yet. I think I’m climbing well and the team’s going really strong.”
