Richie Porte (Sky) put himself in prime position to take the overall win in the Vuelta a Pais Vasco with a stunning solo win in today's penultimate stage of the race. With teammate Kiryienka single-handedly controlling the breaks through the latter part of the race, the Australian claimed that his victory was a much due to the team as it was due to his own strength.

Richie Porte has been in blistering condition all season long with two stage wins and an overall victory in the Paris-Nice and a time trial triumph in the Criterium International already in his pocket when he arrived in the Basque Country for this week's Vuelta al Pais Vasco. With a stunning solo win, his incredible run of form just seems to continue.

On an extremely difficult day with plenty of short, steep climbs and a number of riders eager to attack the diminished Sky team of Porte and race leader Sergio Henao, it was always going to be hard to control the stage. However, the team did a brilliant job, and Vasil Kiryienka single-handedly closed down a dangerous break containing Jose Herrada, Rui Costa, Andrew Talansky and Jakob Fuglsang who were all less than 2 minutes behind Henao.

Porte was full of praise of the team's effort.

"It was the last road stage and everybody wanted to be in the breakaway," he said. "In the end the guys up the road were the guys who had the legs to be there. They were strong riders but Kiryienka and Xabi (Zandio, ed.) were just absolutely incredible. They controlled things all day. For Sergio and myself we just had to finish it off and it worked perfectly."

The race was made even harder by treacherous weather conditions. After a sunny start to the race, the riders have experienced true Basque condition during the last two road stages, and more of the same is expected for tomorrow's time trial.

"It was the same yesterday and I think tomorrow could be much the same," Porte said. "At the end of the day everybody’s in the same boat. Everybody just got on with it and that’s what we do at Team Sky. I think there was no better place to be today than riding up at the front. The team were just incredible. We came here with a depleted team and I think everyone has stepped up and done a brilliant job."

With today's victory, Porte took 4 seconds out of main rival Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) and is now third overall 6 seconds behind Henao. As the strongest time triallist of the main contenders, he enters tomorrow's decisive race against the clock as the major favourite for overall victory.

Porte remains confident ahead of the crucial stage.

"I guess that’s the goal now – to finish it off," he said. "I’ll enjoy today and winning this stage but tomorrow is going to be a whole different ball game. It’s not a typical time trial. There’s some climbs in there and I’ll take it as it comes. Regardless it’s been a brilliant Pays Basque. We’ve won two stages and Sergio’s had the jersey for three days now."

Starting at 15.25, you can follow tomorrow's drama on CyclingQuotes.com/live.