Richie Porte from the BMC racing team was the one to grab the overall victory of the Tour de Romandie yesterday on the final race day. He presented himself with a powerful performance and was able to depose overnight leader Simon Yates from Orica-Scott team.
He hauled in a 19 second time deficit to beat Yates for the big tittle after the 18.3 km time trial back in Lausanne. Even though the stage was won by Primo Roglic from LottoNL-Jumbo cycling team, who was the only cyclist able to set a time under 25 minutes at around 24 min and 58 seconds, before Porte had the chance to battle with Yates. Yates was able to finish 12th.
Words can’t describe how happy I am to win @TourDeRomandie Can’t thank my brilliant @BMCProTeam enough for all the work this week ?@TDWsport pic.twitter.com/UOoUrYpOqY
— Richie Porte (@richie_porte) May 1, 2017
In the matter of fact, Yates started the final day with a 30 second advantage over Richie Porte. Despite that, he was only able to get the 12th place.
Port’s aftermath reaction
After the race, Porte admitted to be in a massive shock. He didn’t think would be able recuperate back the amount of time he did. Porte also added a few words about Yates saying: “Yates, he’s a super talent, he rolled me yesterday in the stage so it was sweet to get the victory today. He won the battle but I won the war a little bit there.”
He also admitted his team to help him a lot. “They have built a team around me, they have put no pressure on me, and it is just going so well right now. I am really happy with where I am at the moment”- he added.
How is @richie_porte celebrating his #TDR2017 win? With ?! Enjoy, Richie! pic.twitter.com/e0BOKwmw6C
— BMC Racing Team (@BMCProTeam) April 30, 2017
According to Porte, the Romandie victory should only be seen as a strong boost of confidence when looking to the Tour de France Grand Depart in Dusseldorf.
Porte was able to participate to the Tour de Romandie even though it was only after a six-week break from the Paris-Nice competition where he was able to win a stage.
Stage classification
