Porte becomes the second Australian to win the prestigious Criterium du Dauphine
After eight days of racing, 36-year-old Richie Porte (team Ineos Grenadiers) has secured a long-awaited victory at the prestigious Criterium du Dauphine.
The Criterium du Dauphine is the traditional warm-up event to the Tour de France which kicks off on June 26th.
The final 147km stage from La Lechere-les-Bains to Les Gets had Richie spend nearly 30 hours in the saddle, finishing with a 17 second lead ahead of Alexey Lutsenko.
“I’ve been second here twice and then I also lost second place one year in the last kilometre as well. To finally win it I’m just over the moon. For all the sacrifices and the time away from my wife and two kids, this makes it worth it.”
Porte is only the second Australian to win the weeklong stage, after Phil Andersen who won it in 1985.
Overall standings:
1. Richie Porte (INEOS Grenadiers) 29:37:05
2. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) +17''
3. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) +29''
4. Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe) +33''
5. Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) +34''
10. Tao Geoghegan Hart (INEOS Grenadiers) +1:57"