Richie Porte is in a good shape. The Team Sky rider managed to follow Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) during the first week which was very stressful and nervous. According to Velonews, Dave Brailsford is confident for the next.

"We are in a good spot," Brailsford said. “It’s a long race, and we are playing a long game. You have to look at the strength of your team and what the race holds. On the one hand, it’s a nice confidence boost to have the jersey, but on the other hand, with the TT coming up, there will be time pluses and minuses there. It’ll be interesting to see where we stand after that… On the other hand, with the jersey, you have to work hard to control it, which we know."

Richie Porte's teammates expend less energy than Tinkoff-Saxo riders who are trying to keep the pink jersey. "The key thing about a Grand Tour is to have the energy of the team when you need it, when it really matters. That’s why we’ve taken a good look at this race and come into it, knowing that Astana and Saxo are pretty full-on, we are playing the long game."

"We didn’t need to do it yet. Think about it. There are a lot of guys here already working very hard. We are coming at it maybe a little bit differently than we raced in the past. We are waiting for the moment."