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The Roar

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ANDERSON: Porte, GreenEDGE push Aussie cycling forward

Stage 1 of la Vuelta a Espana is a team time trial, where Orica-Bike Exchange have a good chance at taking the win. (Image: Sky).
Expert
24th July, 2013
4

The 2013 Tour de France mightn’t have panned out as Cadel Evans would have liked, but the performances of Orica-GreenEDGE and Richie Porte have given Australian cycling fans plenty to be positive about.

We have just witnessed what has turned out to be a fantastic centenary edition of the Tour.

The Team Sky-led procession that saw Bradley Wiggins claim the yellow jersey in 2012 wasn’t the most exciting of Tours, but this year has served up three weeks of compelling racing, despite the British outfit and particularly Chris Froome dominating their opposition again.

Beginning on Corsica, the Tour didn’t start in the best of circumstances for Orica-GreenEDGE after the bus fiasco, but it quickly turned into an exceptional first week for the Australian team.

After an indifferent Giro d’Italia back in May, it was pleasing to see Orica-GreenEDGE make their mark early on with their breakthrough win on Stage 3 in just their second Tour.

It was particularly so given the unexpected nature of the win with Simon Gerrans, not renowned as a sprinter, out-sprinting eventual Points Classification winner Peter Sagan to the line.

For ‘Gerro’ to return to the podium in yellow just 24 hours later with his eight teammates after winning the team time trial was even better.

An impressive debut season in 2012 saw Orica-GreenEDGE win Grand Tour stages at the Giro through Matt Goss and the Vuelta with Simon Clarke, and Gerrans won the Milan-San Remo, but they were unable to make much of an impact at the Tour.

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For Gerry Ryan, who has put so much into Orica-GreenEDGE, and his committed team to get so richly rewarded is great to see.

Save for a series of breakaway attempts from Simon Clarke, the latter stages of the Tour were not as eventful for the team and it highlighted the fact they lack a genuine General Classification contender.

That’s not to say that, in the likes of Cameron Meyer, we won’t in the future.

In this era of cycling it can some take three or four years before we start to see young GC riders even show a hint of their potential, and can take up to half a dozen Tours before they’re ready.

Now riders are developed differently, and can be targeted toward a number of other UCI World Tour events before they are deemed ‘ready’ for the Tour.

Let’s hope some of the younger brigade at Orica-GreenEDGE are given ample opportunity to become ‘ready’ in seasons to come.

Speaking of ready, one man who must be getting close to his chance at leading a team of his own is Richie Porte.

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As maillot jaune Chris Froome’s super domestique at Team Sky, Richie played an immense role for the British team and no more so than during Stage 18 on Alpe d’Huez, when the 28-year-old Tasmanian’s strength carried Froome as he began to display signs of wilting.

That’s not to take anything away from the powerful Froome, who was in a class of his own during this year’s Tour.

His efforts, firstly in the Pyrenees, then on Mont Ventoux and finally in the Alps were astonishing.

Having ridden up Ventoux at a comparatively leisurely 10km/h clip previously, my tour guests and I could certainly appreciate watching Froome propel himself up the mountain at the best part of 35-40km/h!

I wrote after Porte’s victory at the Paris-Nice earlier this year that Team Sky had become the standard-bearer in professional cycling, and on the evidence of this year’s Tour it is again hard to argue the point.

After Froome played right-hand man to Sir Wiggo in 2012, Team Sky honoured their arrangement to elevate Froome as the team’s number one in this year’s Tour, so let’s hope they do the same with Porte.

I know from my own experiences starting out as a professional with Peugeot it was difficult to establish support if you weren’t French, but I trust Porte will get his opportunity at the British team.

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Team Sky have indicated Richie will have the team behind him at the 2014 Giro d’Italia, and if he can capitalise on that opportunity there is nothing to say he shouldn’t get a shot at the 2015 Tour de France.

Credit must also go to Michael Rogers, whose work for Alberto Contador and Saxo-Tinkoff saw him finish as the highest-placed Australian, and also get onto the podium with his teammates after winning the Team Classification.

Unfortunately not everything worked out for Australian cycling fans, and I must touch on the disappointing Tour of 2011 winner Cadel Evans.

It’s important to note, unlike Froome at Team Sky or even Contador at Saxo-Tinkoff, Cadel didn’t have the depth of assistance at his BMC team to help him through those gruelling mountain stages.

But even if he had, it’s hard to say he would have been able mount a serious challenge for a podium finish; he simply wasn’t in the condition or form.

Neither Cadel nor Tejay van Garderen were helped by the uncertainty surrounding the leadership of the team, and the fallout from their poor Tour has already begun, with directeur sportif John Lelangue resigning immediately following the race.

With riders now competing in half the amount of events as they used to, there are more and more examples of riders producing strong results well into their mid 30s.

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Cadel’s proved everybody wrong before but, at 38, it’s difficult to envision Cadel regaining the level required to challenge for a podium.

The calls for van Garderen to lead will only become louder at the American BMC team next season, but let’s hope Cadel is allowed to finish his career on his terms.

Elsewhere, the emergence of young, talented riders brightened the spectacle in the Points and King of the Mountains Classifications.

While managing just one stage victory, Peter Sagan set up his second successive green jersey win early on in the Tour; but the Points Classification was lit up by Argos-Shimano sprinter Marcel Kittel.

Competing in his second Tour, the 25-year-old German rider picked up four stage victories in this year’s race, ending Mark Cavendish’s four-year dominance on the Champs-Elysees in the process.

Several years ago Argos-Shimano had been struggling to compete at World Tour level, and Kittel’s performance has been a considerable achievement for the Dutch team.

And what of Nairo Quintana?

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The bold Colombian was imperious in the finish of Stage 20 on Annecy-Semnoz on Saturday.

His maiden win was enough to propel him into second in the GC, seeing him finish the Tour with the polka-dot jersey for the King of the Mountains Classification and the white jersey for Best Young Rider.

At only 23 and in his first Tour, the fortunes of Quintana will be keenly watched in years to come.

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