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| Richie Porte in the Col d'Eze TT |
Congratulations to 2015 Paris-Nice winner Richie Porte! The
Tasmanian talent who is preparing to lead Team SKY at the Giro d'Italia later
this spring, won the final time trial stage up the Col d'Eze. The 1:39 he
gained on yellow jersey wearer Tony Gallopin was enough to propel Porte to the
top of the final General Classification. Michal Kwiatkowski and Simon Spilak
rounded out the rest of the podium, both finishing thirty seconds off the
winning time.
Tony Gallopin did not have a good day on the mountain, and
mentioned after the stage that he was not happy with having chosen to ride the
timed climb so much in the tri-bar position. Gallopin lost the race lead he had grabbed on yesterday's
sixth stage into Nice, coming in 1:39 behind Porte in the TT, and wound up
finishing just 6th on GC. Porte's teammate Geraint Thomas was pushed off the
podium over the last two stages, and ended the race fifth overall. Jakob
Fuglsang also underperformed, sliding from fifth overall to seventh.
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| French hope, Tony Gallopin on the move in stage 6 |
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| Escape artist and KOM winner, Thomas De Gendt |
Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEDGE managed to hold on and
win the points jersey he first grabbed with his win on stage 3. Thomas De Gendt
of the Lotto Soudal team won the King of the Mountains jersey by making the
break three consecutive days, including the very mountainous fourth and sixth
stages. While he was not able to defend the overall race lead he had held
earlier, Michal Kwiatkowski of Etixx-Quickstep did walk away with the white,
best young rider's jersey.
The stage winners from this 2015 edition of the Race to the
Sun were:
Prologue TT: Michal Kwiatkowski (EQS)
Stage 1: Alexander Kristoff {Katusha}
Stage 2: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal)
Stage 3: Michael Matthews (OGE)
Stage 4: Richie Porte (SKY)
Stage 5: Davide Cimolai (Lampre)
Stage 6: Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal)
Stage 7: Richie Porte (SKY)
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| The final podium (L to R): Kwiatkowski, Porte, and Spilak |
Final Overall
Standings:
1. Richie Porte (SKY) 29:10:41
2. Michal Kwiatkowski
(EQS) + :30
3. Simon Spilak (KAT) ST
4. Rui Costa
(LAM)
5. Geraint Thomas
(SKY) :41
6. Tony Gallopin
(LTS) 1:03
7. Jakob Fuglsang
(AST) 1:05
8. Rafal Valls Ferri
(LAM) 1:24
9. Gorka Izaguirre
(MOV)
1:38
10. Tim Wellens
(LTS)
2:18
