Porte climbs to victory
A superb display of climbing gave Team Sky's Richie Porte the stage win and overall lead after stage three of the Volta ao Algarve.
Last Updated: 17/02/12 6:26pm
A superb display of climbing gave Team Sky's Richie Porte the stage win and overall lead after stage three of the Volta ao Algarve.
The Australian powered away from the rest of the field on the slopes of the Alto do Malhao, taking the victory by eight seconds ahead of Tiago Machado (RadioShack-Nissan).
Machado and fellow home favourite Rui Costa (Movistar) trailed into Loule together after being unable to hold the wheel of the 27-year-old Australian on the punishing climb.
The display also gave Porte the yellow jersey of the overall leader, with Edvald Boasson Hagen giving up top spot after himself contributing to the victory with a huge turn on the lower slopes of the Malhao.
Dutch duo Johnny Hoogerland and Wout Peols (bot Vacansoleil-DCM) completed the top five, while Bradley Wiggins managed to come home in the top 10 despite taking a monster turn on the final climb.
Test
"It all went to plan and obviously Richie did the business at the end," Team Sky Sports Director Sean Yates told www.teamsky.com.
"We did the maximum to tire the opposition out so Richie could gain the most time with the time trial in view.
"The boys rode fantastically and everything was done to the tee. There were bodies everywhere today it was a really hard stage. It was pretty hardcore to see the damage done.
"They all committed and they all delivered, including Richie who was the ultimate guy and the real pressure was on him really.
"The rest knew and we were going to carry out the plan, whether Richie won or not. And obviously Richie carried it out at the end and delivered the win which everyone is really happy about that."
The biggest test of the race for the general classification contenders, the 194.6-kilometre test from Castro Marim was always going to come down to the final ascent.
Climbs
No less than five categorised ascents lay in wait for the peloton - with a quartet of category three climbs first up in the shape of the Portela do Barranco, Vermelhos, Cavalos and Soitos respectively.
A significant group of eight riders saw the undulations as an opportunity and pushed clear of the peloton, opening out a gap in excess of seven minutes on the road before Team Sky took up the chase.
With the peloton motoring things came back together ahead of the Cavalos climb, with Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) and Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale) making a speculative dig down the descent.
Team Sky monitored events before bringing things back together, with the race then on to position each team's leader ahead of the pivotal climb.
At the foot of the climb, Wiggins hit the front hard and quickly splintered the peloton as overnight leader Boasson Hagen dropped back.
An attack by Machado marked the end of Wiggins turn on the front, but it was Porte who countered the move and accelerated away from the rest in dominant style to give Team Sky their second victory in consecutive years at the summit.
