Richie Porte defended his 2nd place in today's final stage of the Vuelta a Andalusia to come away from his first European race with a good result. However, the Australian insits that he is nowhere near his best and is sure that there is a lot more to come during the season.

Richie Porte wrapped up second place overall at Ruta del Sol after Team Sky looked to seize the initiative on the final stage. The Tasmanian was able to emerge from a high-speed finale as the race burst onto the coast in Fuengirola and defend his strong general classification position with the help of his Team Sky team-mates.

Porte finished the race 31 seconds behind winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and was able to also defend the two-second margin back to fellow podium finisher Luis Leon Sanchez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

The team had looked to set things up for Edvald Boasson Hagen on the final stage but a narrow run-in saw the bunch stretched to breaking point heading into the final kilometre. Topsport Vlaanderen hit the front collectively to open out a gap in sight of the flamme rouge and secured three of the top five positions.

The win however went to Moreno Hofland (Belkin) who edged out fellow young guns Nikias Arndt (Giant-Shimano) and Kenneth Vanbilsen (Topsport Vlaanderen) at the finish. Boasson Hagen crossed the line seventh while 10th was enough to see Valverde take the red jersey for the third year in succession.

After the what he described as a 'very very sketchy' finale, Porte put the race into context

"The whole week the guys have been absolutely incredible," he told TeamSky.com. "There’s a lot of horsepower in the team. We’ve had guys like Xabi Zandio on the front all day yesterday. Geraint (Thomas) and Pete (Kennaugh) doing a brilliant job. Everybody was fantastic. It was a shame we couldn’t win a stage between us but it was good that it was such a hard race and everyone is going to come out of it stronger than when they went in."

In only his second race of the year Porte admitted he is happy with his growing form despite coming up against stiff opposition in the form of Valverde.

"The uphill finishes suited him down to the ground and hat’s off to him he’s in great shape. For us it’s good to see where we’re at. I know where I’m at and I’m nowhere near at 100 percent. So to come away with second this week is a nice indication of what I can do this season."

Porte also reserved praise for seemingly indestructible team-mate Vasil Kiryienka, who persevered after a hard crash and collision with a rock just 17km into the final stage.

"He lost it on a corner attacking at the start," he explained. "In Kiryienka versus a rock I guess the rock was always going to come off second best. He was quickly back in the peloton. He’s a legend."