Richie Porte saw his hopes of finishing on the Tour de France podium come to nothing when a chest infection took him out of contention at the worst possible time. Admitting that his main goal now is to reach the finish in Paris, he still hopes to bounce back with a great showing in the Pyrenees.

 

Richie Porte insists Team Sky will battle hard to try and claim a stage victory before the Tour de France is over, but admits his condition will have to improve if he is going to get himself in the hunt.

 

Porte came into the Tour in fantastic form, and was sitting second in the general classification before a chest infection saw him struggle through two punishing stages in the Alps and slip to 15th in the standings.

 

The 29 year old had grasped his chance as team leader with both hands following the unfortunate withdrawal of Chris Froome on stage five, but was disappointed to see his hard work come undone on the three stages leading into the second rest day.

 

Far from lamenting his losses however, the Tasmanian remains upbeat as he prepares for the final week of action, and is philosophical about the position he now finds himself in.

 

“It’s been a hard Tour,” Porte said at the team’s hotel in Carcassonne. “One moment you’re second on GC and the next you find yourself out of the top 10. I’ll take things as they come now. I’m still struggling, but with the Pyrenees coming up, hopefully I can recover and try and bounce back.

 

“I had great form coming into the race and I think I showed on the Plache des Belles Filles I was up there with the strongest guys. I can beat myself up as much as I want, but there’s some things you can’t control and it was about the worst time possible for me to get ill, just before the Alps.

 

“My main goal now is making it to Paris. I’d like to go up the road somewhere and try for a stage win, but these last three days have been among the worst I’ve experienced on a bike, so that’s going to make it very difficult on the hard days to come.

 

“It won’t just be left up to me though, we do have other options. Geraint Thomas and Mikel Nieve are both in great form and I’m sure they could try for a stage win somewhere as well.”

 

And while Porte’s chances of attaining the yellow jersey look all-but over for this year, he believes the chance will come again to show what he can do, and he has not given up hope of one day grasping the biggest prize in cycling.

 

He added: “Ever Tour is as unpredictable as the next one so I’m sure there’ll be other opportunities in the future for me to come in in good form and ride for the general classification. Every Tour’s different and we’ll just have to see what happens. It’s all experience at the end of the day.”

 

Vincenzo Nibali is the man currently in control of the yellow jersey and Porte believes the Italian fully deserves his place at the top of the standings.

 

“Vincenzo’s a class bike rider. He’s won the Giro and the Vuelta and has been around a long time. He’s shown he’s been head and shoulders above everyone who’s left in the race and he’s got a good, strong team around him. He’s doing a great job.”