Richie Porte is well up for the Tour of Beijing

Well up for it. WELL up for it.

“It’s been a long season and the legs are tired. I’m here because the team want me here, because the points are tight.”

That’s a rabble-rousing statement of intent if ever I heard one.

Thor Hushovd is the race leader after winning stage one, taking a 10 second time bonus. He too emphasised his utter determination to do well in this race.

“It’s a good win. I’m a little surprised as I had a hard couple of weeks after the Worlds finding the motivation.”

He’ll have to beat defending champion Tony Martin though and he clearly has his heart set on a third successive win:

“To be honest the parcours this year is not really for me.”

Let battle commence.


Comments

4 responses to “Richie Porte is well up for the Tour of Beijing”

  1. Runty Wilson avatar
    Runty Wilson

    A collective “MEH”

    They should have a beige* jersey for the rider who most looks like he can’t be bothered. I’d love to see a comparison of average stage speeds between this and the other stage races.

    *Not the Servetto one from a few years back, that would just be cruel.

    1. Actually, a cursory comparison reveals that stage three was raced at pretty much exactly the same speed as stage one of the Tour, which also ended in a sprint.

      1. Runty Wilson avatar
        Runty Wilson

        Back to the drawing board for me on on that one. I’m guessing a lot of lower ranking team members are out there with something to prove. After all, even the very worst of the pros are still freakish human beings with ridiculous ability.

    2. UCI points are a great motivator if you’re looking for a new contract because a new team gets the points as well as the rider.

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