Richie Porte would be heading for the rigorous Giro-Tour double this year. The leading Aussie rider did the same thing 3 years back which although didn’t give him a pleasant experience yet the cyclist is confirmed that he has matured and handle it better now.
The Tasmanian cyclist would aim for Giro podium this May but he would set aside his personal ambitions 2 months after at Tour. Porte would repeat his previous year’s role in Tour where he acted as key lieutenant to Chris Froome, his Sky mate.
The 28-year-old-rider follows Tim Kerrison, the famous Aussie scientist from Sky who has convinced him that the project would be possible to achieve.
“If Cadel is unable to perform it, that reveals how tough it is”, said the Aussie rider. “I’ll be donning a completely different role here. Kerrison is the guru & if he has the belief in me then I am really confident about it. I know pretty well how to perform Giro double”, Porte added in. “I had a stint with it 3 years back & it was not really pleasant. But I’m pretty aware of the long journey I have made in these 3 years. It would be definitely a challenge. But I am eager to crack it.”
Giro, Tour & Vuelta Esapana are 3 of the Grand Tours in the sport of cycling, each of which are raced for more than 3 grueling weeks. The overall contenders like Porte and Evans are increasingly concentrating on either Tour or Giro, especially in the post Armstrong era. Cadel was originally targeting simply the Tour in 2013 but his poor form demanded a drastic change in his program. Porte had a fantastic season in 2013 having set the record of being the first Aussie rider to achieve the Paris-Nice crown.