A puncture with 5km to go and the racing in full swing was not what Richie Porte wanted. Where were his team-mates and where was the team car? No matter, here’s Porte’s fellow countryman, Simon Clarke, to lend him his wheel.
If that's not Aussie mate ship them what is? Punctured and clarkey gave me his front wheel… https://t.co/bu9tf3AhX4
— Richie Porte (@richie_porte) May 19, 2015
Porte tagged an instagram post about the incident #oweyouabeer. Perhaps instead he could have just offered to spare Clarke two minutes of his time.
Because the cruel truth is that as a result of Clarke’s kindness, Porte now has two extra minutes to spare. You’re not allowed to take a wheel off someone from a rival team. The moist-eyed Aussie concept of mateship had lured Porte into a trap. That trap was a two minute time penalty and a 200 Swiss Franc fine.
Porte can afford £137.57 but he can’t really afford that amount of time. Things look slightly grim for the Tasmanian.
The stage result?
Even the flat stages are being won by breakaway riders now. Nicola Boem was the best of the mini bunch which finished just 18 seconds ahead of the peloton. Apparently he gained the points jersey in the process. The fact you can be anonymous for nine stages and then grab the points jersey in the tenth is one of the reasons why I don’t pay much attention to the Giro points jersey.
Stage 11
Hilly with three laps of a finishing circuit which includes a climb at the end. Wouldn’t bet against someone from the break winning again, but it might be tough enough terrain to separate the main contenders
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