With defending champion Chris Froome out of the race, Richie Porte has taken over the captaincy role at Team Sky and the Australian did well to finish as one of the best GC riders in today's cobbled stage of the Tour de France. Due to Froome's injuries, he was actually already the designated leader going into the stage.

Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas were both upbeat after their commanding rides on a brutal fifth stage of the Tour de France, and insist there is still plenty for to fight for after Chris Froome’s forced withdrawal.

Porte and Thomas blazed a trail during the closing stages of a rain-soaked day and distanced several general classification contenders as they powered over the seven cobbled sectors on a tough and testing parcours.

The duo finished less than two minutes down on an impressive Vincenzo Nibali and the result saw Porte climb to eighth in the overall standings, one minute and 54 seconds off the Italian champion.

The result was significant given that Porte will now take over from Froome as Team Sky’s lead rider, and the man himself was pleased to have come through a challenging stage relatively unscathed.

He told TeamSky.com: “I’m glad to have got that stage done – the racing was on all day and it was such a stressful stage. Given his fall yesterday, it was always going to be hard for Froomey to hang in there, so the decision was made on the bus that I’d have G and Bernie (Eisel) to ride for me, and they did an incredible job on the wet and slippery roads.

“It was carnage before we even reached the cobbles, and I went down after the second sector myself, but fortunately I only had a few minor grazes.

“We’ve got guys on the management team like Kurt [Asle Arvesen] and Servais [Knaven] who are cobbled specialists, so they made sure we had the best equipment, the best bikes, and that really showed.

“G and I were able to ride through the groups and limit our losses on Nibali, and although it was stressful, I actually began to enjoy it at the end. It was completely different from the type of racing I normally do.

“G and Bernie were brilliant and really looked after me. This is their type of terrain and it was impressive to see how they operated.”

Thomas also admitted that he had relished the challenging terrain and believes Porte will be a more-than capable leader.

He said: “We came into the race with a two-pronged attack, and now it’s all for Richie. I saw Contador was struggling a bit on the cobbles, so I said, ‘Richie, get on my wheel, let’s just smash it and see what happens’.

“I also really enjoyed it. I was stressing a bit before the race, but once it all broke up and you could take your own line, it wasn’t quite as stressful. It was awesome, it was good fun. Obviously losing Froomey is not good, but Richie is in good form and he’ll definitely be up there in Paris.”

While both riders admitted Froome’s loss was a huge blow to the team, they were keen to stress the positives with 16 days of racing still ahead of them.

“It’s a massive loss losing Chris,” Porte admitted. “But he’ll back hungrier than ever next year. Now I have an opportunity to go for as high a GC position as I can. It’s a relief, personally, to have come through stages two and five OK, and I’m looking forward to heading into the mountains now.”

Thomas agreed: “It’s a mega loss losing Froomey, but that’s bike racing and we have to accept it. It’s kind of like Brad (Wiggins) in 2011 when he crashed out with a broken collarbone.

“You have got to take the positives from it. Back then we saw it as our chance to go for stages and Richie has got a great chance to ride for himself and I’ve got every confidence that he can do that.”

Both riders also took time to praise Nibali’s performance, and while Thomas acknowledged he was in a commanding position, Porte has now set his sights on hauling the Astana rider back.

“Nibali’s ride was impressive,” Thomas said. “He’s a great bike handler and Astana were in a good position for those first two sectors. Once they’d got themselves there, they’d made it because when you’re in that group of 15 or 20 riders, it is so much easier.

“That good positioning was what gained him time. I didn’t think he would still have the yellow today, so hats off to him and his team. It’s definitely going to make for some interesting racing.”

Porte continued: “Nibali is in a great position. You can’t take anything away from the way he rode today - what he did was really impressive - but being in the yellow jersey comes with its own pressures and there’s still a long way to go.”