Richard Julian Porte (born 30 January 1985) is an Australian former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2022. His successes include wins at 8 World Tour stage races:

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

, the

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, the

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycle sport, cycling road bicycle racing, road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. In Grand Tours, he won the

young rider classification Young rider classification () in a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, is an award for the current leader by overall time for riders below the age of twenty-six years ...

at the

2010 Giro d'Italia The 2010 Giro d'Italia was the 93rd edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The race started off in Amsterdam on 8 May and stayed in the Netherlands for three stages, before leaving the country. The ...

, his first year at

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle racing, road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, i ...

level, and finished on the podium of the

2020 Tour de France The 2020 Tour de France was the 107th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tours. Originally scheduled to start on 27 June 2020, it was postponed until 29 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. The race began ...

, but was also frequently hit by illnesses and injuries.

Personal life

Porte was born in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

in 1985. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Launceston. A sports award at their Croagh Patrick campus is named in his honour and awarded to the best athlete in Year 9 annually. When he rides it is not uncommon to see Porte wear a necklace of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, a homage to his home state. After spending many years living in Europe, in 2023 Porte returned to live in Tasmania after his retirement from professional cycling.

Career

Early years, Team UniSA–Australia & Praties

Porte started dedicated cycling in 2006 when he was 21 years of age. He comes from a triathlon background, having competed in the sport since 2003. Prior to that he was a competitive swimmer. Porte rode for

UniSA–Australia UniSA–Australia is an Australia, Australian cycling team sponsored by the University of South Australia, entering young Australian riders in the Tour Down Under stage race held in late January in and around Adelaide. 2020 The team members for ...

at the

2008 Tour Down Under The 2008 Tour Down Under was the 10th edition of the Tour Down Under road cycling stage race, taking place from 22 to 27 January in and around Adelaide, South Australia. The Tour Down Under was the first race outside of Europe to be given ProTou ...

and finished ninth overall. He raced with a

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

team, , in 2008 and 2009, taking fifth place in the 2008 Herald Sun Tour and winning the Tours of Perth and Tasmania. Porte rose and under the eye of Andrea Tafi on the ''Monsummanese Grassi Mapei'' amateur Italian team in 2009, finishing tenth at the 2009 Tour de Langkawi. His performance at the 2009 ''Baby Giro'', where he won the individual time trial, brought him to the attention of the professional teams.

2010: Team Saxo Bank and individual success

At the end of the 2009 season, he signed a two-year contract with . His coach at Team Saxo Bank was compatriot

Bradley McGee Bradley John McGee (born 24 February 1976) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist. He is currently the head coach of the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS). He started cycling in 1986 at the age of ten. He lives in Sydney ...

. In April, Porte went on to win the stage 4 time trial at the

, finishing in tenth place overall. In May he made his Grand Tour debut in the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

where he finished seventh overall and won the

, by a margin of 7' 29" over

Robert Kišerlovski Robert Kišerlovski (born 9 August 1986) is a Croatian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the , , , , , , and squads. Career At the 2011 Paris–Nice, Kišerlovski crashed on a slipper ...

, cementing his place as a rider for the future. He also led the race during stages 11 to 13 and thus wore the pink jersey. In July Porte placed tenth in the

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

and had a further run of strong performances; second in the stage 5 time trial of the Post Danmark Rundt, fourth overall at the

Eneco Tour The Benelux Tour (previously known as the Eneco Tour and the BinckBank Tour) is a road bicycle racing stage-race that is part of the UCI World Tour. The race was established in 2005 and was originally known as the Eneco Tour, named after the ori ...

and fourth overall at the

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

. Porte narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, held in the Australian city of Geelong; he finished in fourth place, six and a half seconds down on third-place finisher, Germany's Tony Martin.

2011: Time trial successes

Although the 2011 season brought less individual success for Porte, through the expectation that he would become a key

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their cycling team, team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équip ...

for

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice (2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vuelta ...

in his overall victory in the

, Porte continued his strong time trial performances; placing third in

and eighth at the

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'') is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar. As the Basque Country is ...

. Porte then won the fourth stage at

Vuelta a Castilla y León The Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y León is a professional road bicycle stage race held in Castile and León, Spain. Since 2005, it has been a part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions ...

by virtue of Contador's disqualification. Porte then placed third in the final stage time trial at the Giro d'Italia, and fourth in the final stage time trial at the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

. Porte then went on to win fifth stage time trial at the Post Danmark Rundt, in

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

, by a margin of 10 seconds over teammate,

Gustav Larsson Gustav Erik Larsson (born 20 September 1980) is a Swedish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2016 for nine different teams. Larsson specialised as a time trialist, winning the Swedish National Tim ...

. Porte then finished his season with sixth position in the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships.

2012: Move to Team Sky

Porte joined ahead of the 2012 season. In January 2012, he competed in his national championships in

Buninyong Buninyong is a town 11 km from Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Midland Highway, south of Ballarat on the road to Geelong. Buninyong was proclaimed a town on 27 June 1851 on the same day as Winchelsea, Portarlington, ...

and Learmonth, where he finished third in the road race, and placed fifth in the

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

several days later. In February 2012, Porte took the lead of the

Volta ao Algarve Volta may refer to: Persons * Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), Italian physicist and inventor of the electric battery, count and eponym of the volt * Giovanni Volta (1928–2012), Italian Roman Catholic bishop * Giovanni Serafino Volta (1764–1 ...

after winning the race's queen stage, the summit finish at the ''Alto do Malhão'' in

Loulé Loulé () is a city and Concelho, municipality in the region of Algarve, Faro District, district of Faro, Portugal. In 2021, the population of the entire municipality was 72,373 inhabitants, in an area of approximately . The municipality has two p ...

. He held the lead until the end of the race, eventually finishing 37 seconds clear of defending race winner, Tony Martin. Porte then worked for

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional Road bicycle racing, road and track cycling, track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but ...

, helping his leader win the race overall. Porte was a key member of the Sky teams that helped Wiggins go on to win the

, the

and the

. Porte then rode the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

in support of

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome, (; born 20 May 1985) is a British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one Giro d' ...

, and took second place on stage 20.

2013: Paris–Nice and super-domestique

In the absence of Wiggins and Froome, Porte was selected to lead at

. He won the fifth stage of the race – the queen stage – with an attack on La Montagne de Lure to take the lead of the race, from 's

Andrew Talansky Andrew Talansky (born November 23, 1988) is a former professional cyclist. Between 2011 and 2017, he competed for on the UCI World Tour, cycling's highest road racing category. Early life and education Talansky was born in Manhattan, New York ...

. Porte also won the final time trial on the Col d'Èze by 23 seconds over Talansky to seal overall victory by 55 seconds. Porte's time was only four seconds short of the course record, set by Wiggins the previous year. Porte's good form continued into the

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day Stage (bicycle race), bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in ...

, winning the second stage's time trial. A second-place finish on the final mountain stage was not enough to prevent stage winner and teammate

from winning the general classification, but did secure Porte the points classification, and second place overall. Porte was again given the lead of for the

. Porte powered away in the final kilometres of stage five from a small group of elite riders, including race leader and teammate

Sergio Henao Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (born 10 December 1987) is a Colombian racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Continental team . He previously competed for , and . Early life Henao was born in Rionegro (Antioquia), Rionegro in 1987, the same year that th ...

, to claim the stage. In the sixth and final stage, an individual time trial, Porte could not match

Nairo Quintana Nairo Alexánder Quintana Rojas, Order of Boyacá, ODB, (born 4 February 1990) is a Colombian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Nicknamed "Nairoman" and "El Cóndor de los Andes", Quintana is a specialist climber, known fo ...

over the undulating parcours, but managed to rise to second place in the general classification, ahead of Henao. Porte returned to a supporting role for Chris Froome at the

. He helped Froome win the race and placed eighth overall himself in the process. Porte and Froome next featured at the

at the beginning of June. Porte sat fifth overall after the time trial on stage four, and on the following stage helped Froome take the race lead by setting a strong tempo to drop

Rohan Dennis Rohan Craig Dennis (born 28 May 1990) is an Australian former cyclist, who competed professionally in the track cycling, track and road bicycle racing, road disciplines of the sport for five different teams. Having been a member of the Australi ...

, before Froome attacked to win the stage. Porte in the process moved up to second overall, 52 seconds behind his leader. Froome allowed Porte to attack on stage seven, although he only managed to take one second out of the other contenders. On the concluding stage eight, Froome and Porte rode clear of their rivals on the final climb, with only

able to follow, to secure a one-two finish in the overall standings. Ventoux - Ritchie Porte 2

Porte entered the

as super-domestique for Froome. On stage eight – the first mountain stage –

Peter Kennaugh Peter Robert Kennaugh Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 15 June 1989) is a Isle of Man, Manx former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2019 for and . In 2012 he won the gold medal as part of the Great Brit ...

and then Porte dropped most of the overall contenders and brought back an earlier attack by Nairo Quintana on the final climb before Froome attacked to take the stage win and overall lead. Porte was able to finish second on the stage, 51 seconds behind Froome, to rise to second overall. However, in the following stage Porte cracked following numerous early attacks by , and riders, leaving Froome completely isolated for most of the stage. Porte lost over ten minutes and dropped out of overall contention, although Froome managed to avoid time loss by fending off several attacks from

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish cyclist, who competed as a professional in road bicycle racing from 2002 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2022, and now competes in gravel cycling for the Movistar Team Gravel Squad. During ...

and Quintana. On stage 15, Porte again provided the launch pad for Froome's victory on

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...

. On stage 18 – which finished at

Alpe d'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in Southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the central French Western Alps, in the Communes of France, commune of Huez, which is part of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-R ...

– Porte's assistance proved vital for Froome, as Froome ran into difficulty towards the end of the stage; Porte dropped back to the team car to illegally get energy gels for his leader, then paced him to the end of the climb to limit his losses to Quintana and

Joaquim Rodríguez Joaquim Rodríguez Oliver (born 12 May 1979) is a Spanish cyclist, who competed in road bicycle racing between 2001 and 2016 for the , , and teams. Following his retirement from road racing, Rodríguez has competed in mountain bike racing and ...

. Porte and Froome each received a 20-second time penalty and a fine of 200

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s for the infringement. Froome went on to comfortably win the Tour by four minutes, 20 seconds over Quintana with Porte finishing 19th overall.

2014: A season wrecked by illness

After finishing third behind

Simon Gerrans Simon Gerrans (born 16 May 1980) is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018, for the , , , , and squads. Post-retirement he initially worked as an athlete intern at Goldman Sachs in L ...

and

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with ...

in the national road race championships, Porte began his 2014 season at his home race, the

. He won the penultimate fifth stage, finishing on Old Willunga Hill, and finished fourth in the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

on the final stage. Porte then followed up his result in the Tour Down Under with second overall at the

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI ...

. Porte's season then took a downwards turn finishing 22nd overall at the

. Porte then failed to start at

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of th ...

and failed to finish at;

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

, culminating in him taking leadership of due to

's abandonment and then finishing 23rd at the

. Porte then failed to finish the Vattenfall Cyclassics as well as GP Ouest–France which led him to end his season early after being diagnosed with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. Just before the Tour de France, Porte revealed that he had beaten teammate Chris Froome's time on the famous Col de la Madone climb near to

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

. Porte completed the climb in 29 minutes 40 seconds, besting Froome's time by 29 seconds.

2015: Final season at Sky – Early season success

Porte started the 2015 season with success, taking victory in the

Australian National Time Trial Championships The Australian National Time Trial Championships, are held annually with an event for each category of rider: Men, Women & under 23 riders. The event has been run concurrently with the Australian National Road Race Championships since 2002. The ...

. Much like the previous season, Porte took victory on the queen stage of the

at Old Willunga Hill resulting in a second place on the overall general classification. Porte then returned to Europe at the

again taking victory on the queen stage to the summit finish of Malhão, this stage win succeeded in elevating Porte to fourth overall on general classification behind teammate

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, ( , ; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a track and ...

, as well as taking the win in the mountains classification. Porte's next victory came at

where he and teammate Thomas took a one-two victory on the summit finish of Croix de Chaubouret. Despite losing the chance to take the overall lead after a crash on the penultimate stage of the race, a victory in the final-day time trial (again on the

Col d'Èze The Col d'Èze is a mountain pass in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France. It is located between Nice and Monaco, near to La Trinité. Cycling The pass is particularly well known for its frequent inclusion in the Paris–Nice road cycling ...

), by a margin of 13 seconds to his closest rival, gave him his second overall victory in the race in the past three seasons. Furthermore, this pushed him to the top of the

UCI Road World Rankings The UCI Road World Rankings was a men's system of ranking road bicycle racers based upon the results in all UCI-sanctioned races over a twelve-month period. The world rankings were first instituted by the UCI in 1984. The ranking is based on the ...

. Porte's next victory came in late March when he secured the overall win at the

. Despite not winning a stage, Porte won the race by a margin of four seconds from

, after achieving two top-5 stage placings on the decisive finishes of La Molina and

Valls Valls () is a city and municipality in the Camp de Tarragona region in Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital of the comarca of Alt Camp. In 2014, it had a population of 24,570. Valls is known for its calçots – a type of scallion or green onio ...

. In late April Porte notched up his third overall win of the season, taking the

warm-up

Giro del Trentino The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino () until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy. In 2015, th ...

four-day stage race. Porte took a decisive stage victory on the Queen stage summit finish to

Brentonico Brentonico (''Brentònec'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige, located about southwest of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,770 and an area of .A ...

giving him a margin of 24 seconds to his closest rival,

Mikel Landa Mikel Landa Meana (born 13 December 1989) is a Spanish Basques, Basque professional road bicycle racing, road cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . His career breakthrough came at the 2015 Giro d'Italia where he won two stages and finished third ...

. Porte would carry the majority of this gap to the finish in

Cles Cles (; Nones dialect, Nones: ''Clés'' or ''Cliès'') is a town and ''Communes of Trentino, comune'' in Trentino, in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of northern Italy. It is the main town of Val di Non. It is the main town of and is lo ...

. In doing so he became the first ever rider to win the

and

treble in one season. In the Giro d'Italia, Porte made headlines by having a motor-home to sleep in as he was the team leader while his teammates slept in hotels. He was competitive during the first week of the race, and sat third overall after stage nine. However, on Stage 10 Porte punctured 5 km from the finish, and accepted a change of wheels from Simon Clarke from the team. Porte initially lost 47 seconds to the peloton, but was then docked two minutes and fined 200 Swiss francs for accepting Clarke's wheel as this manoeuvre is illegal according to UCI rules, dropping him to 12th place overall. On stage 13, Porte was involved in a crash from the stage finish, and lost a further two minutes. Porte suffered a bad individual time trial on stage 14 and an even worse stage 15, where he lost 27 minutes to then-leader

. After that debacle, he gave the leadership of the team to

Leopold König Leopold König (born 15 November 1987) is a Czech Republic, Czech former professional road bicycle racing, road cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2019 for the , , and teams. Since retiring, he has acted as the race director for ...

. After the aforementioned stage, he announced he was abandoning the race due to a leg injury. After the Giro, Porte was included in Sky's squad for the

as a key domestique for Chris Froome. He played a key role in Froome's overall victory in that race, especially during the first mountain stage 10, where Porte not only made the final pull that allowed Froome to launch his decisive attack, but recovered to overtake the chasing Nairo Quintana and arrive second behind Froome, increasing the latter's lead over Quintana due to bonus seconds. During the final mountain stage 20, with Froome seemingly running out of steam on the long uphill finish and Nairo Quintana aggressively attacking in front, Porte was the last Sky rider to steadily pull and pace Froome up the climb, allowing him to limit his losses and secure the overall lead and yellow jersey, to gain his second Tour de France victory. During the Tour Porte confirmed that he would be leaving the team at the end of the year, with the aim of becoming a team leader elsewhere. This would later, in August, be confirmed to be .

2016–2018: BMC Racing Team

Ahead of the 2016 season Porte highlighted the Tour de France and the Olympic road race and

as his targets for the year. He started his season strongly in Australia, finishing second to new teammate

in the

before going to the

, where he took his first victory in BMC colours by winning stage 5 to Willunga Hill for the third year in a row and finished second overall. He subsequently struggled in the Tour of Oman in February, losing over three minutes to the leaders on each of the first two stages, before bouncing back upon returning to Europe, taking third place in the general classification at

after attacking the last stage's final climb alongside

followed by an overall fourth place in the

. Following his third place at Paris-Nice, Porte spent one week ranked number 1 in the UCI road racing world ranking, during the period in which the new rankings system was forming. Porte targeted the

, but lost time early on with a mechanical problem on stage 2. Along with

Bauke Mollema Bauke Mollema (; born 26 November 1986) is a Dutch professional cycle sport, cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has finished in the top 10 in all three Grand Tours, with stage wins in the 2021 Tour de France, 2017 Tour de France, and the 2 ...

and Froome he was leading an attack up

which involved all three riders being taken down when a motorcycle suddenly stopped in front of them disrupting the performance of all three riders and causing the ensuing chaos which involved Chris Froome running up Mont Ventoux. He rallied to perform well in the mountains and

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

s, finishing fifth overall, his highest Grand Tour placing to that point. In the 2017 season, Porte finished 12th in the World Tour individual classification, having won the

; he won the queen stage of the race, at Old Willunga Hill for the fourth successive season. Porte also won the

and finished 2nd in the

. He crashed out of the

on stage 9 while descending the Mont du Chat; he had been in an excellent position going into the high mountains being within about 30 seconds of the lead with only Dan Martin, Froome and

Fabio Aru Fabio Aru (born 3 July 1990) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2012 and 2021 for the , and squads. He hails from San Gavino Monreale in Sardinia, and is known for his climbing ability, which m ...

ahead of him. In the 2018 season, Porte won the

, finished second at the

, and third at the

. Again he crashed out of the

on stage 9, this time suffering a collarbone injury. Once again he was in good position prior to the high mountains being within a minute of Super-Domestique and eventual winner

and overall leader

Greg Van Avermaet Greg Van Avermaet (born 17 May 1985) is a retired Belgian professional cyclist. Considered one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Van Avermaet was a specialist of the classic cycle races, but has also won stages and the general cla ...

. He was also ahead of most other favorites including Romain Bardet,

Tom Dumoulin Tom Dumoulin (; born 11 November 1990) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He has won the Giro d'Italia and nine stages across the three Grand Tours, five medals in three different World Champion ...

, Froome and

2019–2020: Trek–Segafredo

For the 2019 season, Porte moved to the team. He won the queen stage at the

, winning at Old Willunga Hill for the sixth successive year. During the

he was in tenth place overall when the race was shortened due to landslides and dangerous weather. He finished the race in eleventh overall, nearly thirteen minutes behind race winner

Egan Bernal Egan Arley Bernal Gómez (born 13 January 1997) is a Colombian professional cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . In 2019 he won the Tour de France, becoming the first Latin American rider to do so, and the youngest winner since 1909. At the 202 ...

. He began the 2020 season by taking the lead midway through the

, but then

Daryl Impey Daryl Impey (born 6 December 1984) is a South African former professional road bicycle racer, road cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2023. Impey is an all-rounder; he generally comes to the fore on tough uphill sprints. Impey ...

took a two-second advantage going into the final stage on Old Willunga Hill. Porte did not win the stage – finishing second behind Matthew Holmes – however he gained enough time over Impey and the other overall contenders to win the race for the second time in his career, after his victory in

. During the

, Porte found himself in a top-ten position early in the race, and by the end of the second week he was in ninth place overall. He moved up to sixth in the general classification, after he finished third on stage fifteen, behind

Tadej Pogačar Tadej Pogačar (; born 21 September 1998) is a Slovenia, Slovenian professional road bicycle racing, cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His victories include three Tour de France, Tours de France (2020 Tour de France, 2020, 2021 Tou ...

and

Primož Roglič Primož Roglič (; born 29 October 1989) is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racing, racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . A former ski jumping, ski jumper, Roglič switched to cycling after an accident suffered at Planica. Despite b ...

. Porte moved into fourth overall following stage 17, a summit finish at the

Col de la Loze The Col de la Loze is a mountain pass in the French Alps, with an elevation of . A path up the mountain was opened in May 2019, and is the seventh-highest mountain pass in France. The ascent featured in the 2020 Tour de France, 2020 and 2023 To ...

, and was 1' 39" behind a podium placing going into the penultimate day's stage, a

that finished at La Planche des Belles Filles. Porte recorded the third-fastest time for the stage – only beaten by Pogačar and

– and by outpacing Miguel Ángel López by nearly five minutes, he moved into third place overall. He ultimately finished the race in that position, recording his first Grand Tour podium finish and the first by an Australian rider at the race since

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of Tour de France, the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 2 ...

win. Porte was awarded the Sir Hubert Opperman Medal for AusCycling's Cyclist of the Year for 2020.

2021–2022: Ineos Grenadiers

In September 2020, it was announced Porte would leave , and he signed a two-year contract with from 2021 onwards. On his first start of the 2021 season, Porte withdrew from

on the opening stage, after a crash caused by a discarded water bottle. He returned to racing with second-place overall finishes at the

and the

. He then won the

ahead of teammate Geraint Thomas and

Alexey Lutsenko Alexey Alexandrovich Lutsenko (; born 7 September 1992) is a Kazakh professional cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam . Career In 2012 he won the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships in the Netherlands. At the 2015 Tour de Sui ...

. He appeared to be in good form heading into the

; however, he lost over two minutes on the opening stage, marked by several crashes. He crashed on stage 9, losing further time. He ultimately finished 38th overall, while assisting

Richard Carapaz Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro (born 29 May 1993) is an Ecuadorian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Carapaz won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, becoming the first Ecuadorian rider to win the race. In July 2021 ...

in the mountains to a third-place overall finish. After the race, he stated that it was his final Tour de France appearance. In 2022, Porte recorded top-ten overall finishes at March's

(fourth), and April's

Tour of the Alps The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino () until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region o ...

(seventh), with his final race start coming at the

in September.

Major results

;2007 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Bright ::1st Stages 1 & 2 ;2008 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour de Perth ::1st Stages 2 & 3 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of Tasmania ::1st Stages 7 & 9 : 1st Stage 2

Tour of Wellington The New Zealand Cycle Classic (previously known as the Tour of Wellington) was a road cycling race held in and around the Wairarapa near Wellington, New Zealand. The race was a men's competition over five stages and part of the UCI Oceania Tou ...

: 5th Overall

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annuall ...

: 9th Overall

;2009 : 1st GP Citta di Felino : 1st Stage 2

Giro del Friuli-Venezia Giulia The Giro del Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a professional cycling race held annually in Italy. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycli ...

: 1st Stage 4 ( ITT)

Girobio Giro Next Gen, also known as Baby Giro, Girobio, Giro d'Italia Giovani Under 23 or Giro Ciclistico d'Italia, is an Italian road bicycle racing amateur stage race created in 1970. The race is considered to be the most important race on Italy's U23 ...

: 3rd

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, National Road Championships : 3rd

Coppa della Pace The Coppa della Pace is a professional one day cycling race held annually in Italy. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste In ...

: 4th Giro Valli Aretine : 10th Overall

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a stage race, multiple stage bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily ...

;2010 : 4th

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

: 4th Overall

: 7th Overall

::1st

Young rider classification Young rider classification () in a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, is an award for the current leader by overall time for riders below the age of twenty-six years ...

::Held

after Stages 11–13 : 10th Overall

::1st Stage 3 ( ITT) : 10th

;2011 : 1st Stage 4 ( ITT)

: 1st Stage 5 ( ITT) Post Danmark Rundt : 6th

;2012 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships : 4th Overall

: 4th Overall

Bayern Rundfahrt The International Bayern Rundfahrt () was a stage race cycling race held each year in Bavaria, Germany, between 1980 and 2015. The race was held as an amateur race between 1980 and 1988, and from 2005 to 2015, the race was organised as a 2.HC even ...

: 9th Overall

;2013 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stages 5 & 7 ( ITT) : 2nd Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 2 ( ITT) : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 5 : 2nd Overall

: 3rd

Team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

: 8th Overall

: 10th

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

;2014 : 2nd Overall

: 3rd Road race, National Road Championships : 4th Overall

::1st Stage 5 ;2015 : 1st MaillotAustralia

, National Road Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stages 4 & 7 ( ITT) : 1st Overall

: 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 5 : 4th Overall

::1st

Mountains classification ::1st Stage 4 ;2016 : 2nd

, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 5 : 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 5th Overall

: 7th

;2017 : 1st Jersey orange

Overall

::1st Stages 2 & 5 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 1st Stage 7

: 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 4 ( ITT) ;2018 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 1 ( TTT) : 1st Stage 3 ( TTT)

: 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 5 : 3rd

, National Road Championships : 3rd Overall

;2019 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 6 : 5th Overall

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the ...

: 5th Overall

;2020 : 1st Jersey orange

Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 2nd

Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge The Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge is a professional road bicycle racing, cycle road race first held in 2019, which takes place between Vaison-la-Romaine and Mont Ventoux. The event was classified by the UCI as category 1.1 event on the UCI Eu ...

: 3rd Overall

: 3rd Overall Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var : 6th Overall

Route d'Occitanie The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de France. ...

: 8th

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

;2021 : 1st Jersey yellow-bluebar

Overall

: 1st Stage 3 ( TTT)

: 2nd Overall

;2022 : 4th Overall

: 7th Overall

General classification results timeline

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Porte, Richie 1985 births Living people Cyclists from Tasmania Sportspeople from Launceston, Tasmania Australian male cyclists Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Australia Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from Tasmania People educated at St Patrick's College, Launceston 21st-century Australian sportsmen