Paris-Nice Stage 5: Richie Porte seizes control of overall with solo win on queen stage

Richie Porte of Team Sky has seized control of Paris-Nice today, riding away from his rivals to win Stage 5 on the Montagne de Lure to put himself in pole position to succeed team mate Bradley Wiggins as winner of the race when it concludes on Sunday with a time trial on the Col d'Eze above Nice.

Team Sky had controlled the pace at the front of the group on the earlier part of that final climb, Porte launching himself with a kilometre and a half to go and quickly passing Katusha's Denis Menchov, who had attacked earlier and clung on to clinch second.

With overnight leader Andrew Talansky getting no help from the other riders in the group and having perhaps used up his energy with a series of earlier attacks, Porte put more than half a minute into the  Garmin-Sharp rider, and the ten bonus seconds he secured for winning the stage means that Team Sky's Tasmanian rider now has a 32 second advantage over Talansky with just two stages to go.

“It’s nice to win a stage of Paris-Nice and to take the jersey," said Porte, who spent most of last season in a supporting role to Wiggins, although he did win the Tour of Algarve.

"I know full well that tomorrow is another day and there’s also the last stage. But I feel we have a good to team to defend yellow so fingers crossed.

“It all played into our hands in the finale, especially having [David] López there as my wingman," he went on. "He was so cool, calm and collected which was really helpful. So credit to him and the whole team today.

“I’ve done an apprenticeship if you like under Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome and also before that Alberto Contador. You don’t always get the opportunity to ride for yourself in a team like this so when it comes you have to grab it with both hands. It’s just nice to get a big victory and I’ll take the rest as it comes.”

Sky sports director Nocolas Portal added: “Today was a perfect result for Richie and for the team. It was a really impressive performance.

“The manner of victory too today makes it even better. Going clear on his own and taking that time out of his rivals was perfect. It was also good because he wasn’t just strong in the legs, he was strong tactically. Talansky made a bit of a mistake and Richie knew when to attack.

“Every day in this race he has always been in a good position, concentrating and in the right moves. He’s been riding confidently and without stress. He’s learned a lot over the last year.

"All eyes were on him and he waited and waited before counter-attacking at the perfect time. It’s also great for the team having a lot of new guys here. Everyone is really happy with how we rode today – not just on the final climb but the whole stage.”

Earlier during the stage, the ever popular Jens Voigt of RadioShack Leopard had gone on the attack with three other riders, and after going on the offensive again on his bike which has a custom 'Shut Up Legs' paintjob, the 41-year-old found himself out front as he began the final climb.

“The plan was to cover the breaks at the beginning of the stage so we took turns covering the attacks and I happened to get into a good one," he explained. 

"We were four riders with the best at nine minutes on GC so we figured they would let us go all day. Once I attacked and dropped the other three, I went all in. I figured I had no real chance to win, so why not give it everything? 

"I was thinking of my winning attack in Colorado last year and that was giving me motivation. The weather was quite similar – it was cool and rainy. I just don’t like to give up and try to always believe in myself. And sometimes I can pull it off. 

"I will admit that I could feel my age a little bit.  But I don’t walk away empty handed from today – at least I had fun. And Trek gave me that special painted bike so today I could show it on TV to everyone,” he added. 

Paris-Nice Stage 5 result

1  Richie PORTE             SKY PROCYCLING                4:50:54

2  Denis MENCHOV            KATUSHA TEAM                  0:00:26

3  Andrew TALANSKY          GARMIN - SHARP                0:00:33

4  Tejay VAN GARDEREN       BMC RACING TEAM               0:00:33

5  Diego ULISSI             LAMPRE - MERIDA               0:00:33

6  Lieuwe WESTRA            VACANSOLEIL-DCM               0:00:33

7  Jean-Christophe PERAUD   AG2R LA MONDIALE              0:00:33

8  Nairo QUINTANA           MOVISTAR TEAM                 0:00:33

9  Simon SPILAK             KATUSHA TEAM                  0:00:33

10 Michele SCARPONI         LAMPRE - MERIDA               0:00:33

11 Jonathan HIVERT          SOJASUN                       0:00:46

12 Sylvain CHAVANEL         OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP       0:00:46

13 Andréas KLÖDEN           RADIOSHACK LEOPARD            0:00:46

14 Peter VELITS             OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP       0:00:49

15 Nicolas ROCHE            TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF             0:00:49

16 Daniel NAVARRO           COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS    0:00:49

17 Alberto LOSADA           KATUSHA TEAM                  0:00:49

18 Andriy GRIVKO            ASTANA PRO TEAM               0:01:02

19 David LOPEZ              SKY PROCYCLING                0:01:06

20 Bart DE CLERCQ           LOTTO-BELISOL                 0:01:17

Overall standings after Stage 5

1  Richie PORTE             SKY PROCYCLING               24:26:08

2  Andrew TALANSKY          GARMIN - SHARP                0:00:32

3  Lieuwe WESTRA            VACANSOLEIL-DCM               0:00:42

4  Jean-Christophe PERAUD   AG2R LA MONDIALE              0:00:49

5  Tejay VAN GARDEREN       BMC RACING TEAM               0:00:52

6  Sylvain CHAVANEL         OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP       0:00:53

7  Simon SPILAK             KATUSHA TEAM                  0:00:53

8  Diego ULISSI             LAMPRE - MERIDA               0:00:54

9  Michele SCARPONI         LAMPRE - MERIDA               0:00:54

10 Peter VELITS             OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP       0:00:56