BMC’s Richie Porte put in a solid time trial performance on the uphill 17km course on stage 18 of the Tour de France yesterday to clock the fourth-fastest time and gain time back on his General Classification rivals. Sitting in sixth place on the General Classification, Porte trails Sky’s Chris Froome by exactly five minutes.

However, deduct the time Porte lost due to an unlucky flat in the opening week of the Tour, and the Australian would currently be sitting in second, a bit over three minutes off Chris Froome and just ahead of Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo). Speaking after yesterday’s mountain time trial, Porte made no secret of his desire to finish on the podium in Paris. His only problem is that he is running out of time to do so.

“It’s no secret I want that podium, I’m prepared to fight,” he told Velonews after Thursday’s time trial, which saw him claw back a few more seconds on four of the five riders ahead of him. Going into Friday’s Alpine stage, Porte trails Mollema by 1:08 and Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) by a mere 44 seconds.

Asked about how he intends to edge his way onto that coveted podium, Porte’s answer was deceptively straightforward.

“Just to keep on having good days, I guess,” he said. “The next two days, on paper, are so hard. I’m in good form. I’m healthy, confident. I’ve got a good team behind me. I had a good TT; I showed that I’m climbing well, just take it day by day. It was a good day, but we have two more days of climbing. Just have to keep chipping away and grab more time.”

Three days before the Tour comes to its conclusion, there is little doubt that Porte’s form is on the rise. Following a calm first two weeks (barring his incident) Porte turned on the gas on Wednesday’s stage to Finhaut-Emosson where he was the only rider capable of separating Froome from his teammates.

Indeed, one might argue that, Chris Froome apart, Porte is the strongest in the race on the eve of the final two stages in the French Alps.

“Porte did a strong TT today, and was the only one to really take the race yesterday and make a really strong pace on the front,” Froome said. “In my opinion, Richie looks like the one with the most to gain these next couple stages.”

As for Porte’s main rivals for a spot on the podium, they have taken notice of the Australian’s late surge. Adam Yates, currently in third overall, identifies Porte as the most likely to bump him off.

“For me, Porte is going to be the main guy,” he said. “Every day he’s getting stronger, and maybe if he didn’t have a puncture at the beginning he’d be on the podium already.”

While Chris Froome appears unassailable at the summit of the podium, there are still two places left to fight for and at least five contenders for those spots. The Alpine stages on Friday and Saturday promise to be exciting indeed.