5 June, 2016, Les Gets (FRA)
Richie Porte powered to second place on the tough opening prologue of the Critérium du Dauphiné, crossing the line six seconds behind winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff).
The 3.9 kilometer course was a brutal first test of the legs, with gradients of 15 percent at the finish, and an average gradient of 9.7%.
Chris Froome set the early best time of 11’49 and remained in the hot seat until Contador arrived to clock 11’36, and Porte following just behind.
Quotes of the Day
Richie Porte:
“That last 500m! It was just such a hard prologue. I haven’t raced for the good part of a month and a half and I’ve flown under the radar so much this year. No one has even mentioned my name. I think it’s good to be coming into this race with less pressure. There was certainly no hiding today so I think it is good for me in the big picture. At the end of it I could hardly stand up. It’s a nice way to start a race, it’s a bit different to a normal stock standard flat prologue.”
“I’m planning to stay out of trouble for the rest of the stages. We’ve got a strong team and there’s no easy day here really. I think it’s good that Tinkoff have to defend the jersey now. We’ll save it all, as much as we can, for the weekend.”
Valerio Piva, Sports Director:
“Of course when you start a race, you start with the objective of winning. Richie finished second, six seconds behind Contador, and we put Froome behind so it was a very good performance from Richie. This is only the start. Richie feels good, he’s strong. We don’t have the jersey now which is less stress for the team. But of course we’re going to try in the next days to get the jersey, and try and have it at the end. The prologue is done and now we look to the stages.”
Race Profile
Critérium du Dauphiné (2.UWT)
Prologue Les Gets- Les Gets (4km)
Top 3: Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team), Christopher Froome (Team SKY).
BMC Racing Team Top 3: 2. Richie Porte, 21. Damiano Caruso, 22. Ben Hermans
