Sir Dave Brailsford has refused to be drawn on speculation that Richie Porte could be on the verge of leaving Sky at the end of the season to take over as grand tour leader of BMC Racing.
Reports from Australia hinted strongly that Porte, who will ride as wingman for Chris Froome in this year’s Tour de France, is highly coveted as a replacement for his compatriot Cadel Evans, the 2011 winner of the race who retired in February. Like Porte, the American rider Tejay van Garderen, BMC’s current leader, is also nearing the end of his contract.
Asked if the rumours, which surfaced in Porte’s native Australia on Friday, had come at a bad time on the eve of Sky’s assault on the tour’s opening individual time trial in Utrecht, Brailsford stated that cycling’s small print precluded him from discussing the matter.
“As we all know, according to the UCI rules and regulations, we’re not allowed to talk about things relating to this until the first of August,” said Sky’s team chief. “So as much as we’d like to discuss it, being law abiding citizens we can’t. In that sense that’s as far as we can go with it.”
The rules and regulations to which Brailsford alluded also state that if Porte renews his contract with Sky it can be announced immediately, but any deal negotiated with any other team cannot be made public until August.
Despite a disappointing tilt at this year’s Giro d’Italia, where he was dogged by a combination of rotten luck, illness and overzealous officialdom before being forced to withdraw through injury after a crash on stage 13, Porte has enjoyed an excellent year, securing nine victories including wins in the Australian national time trial championships, Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya.
With his contract at Sky due to expire at the end of the year, Portehas made no secret of his desire to ride as a grand tour leader, having stated previously that “in any other team, bar three or four” he would be the main focus of attention rather than a trusted lieutenant.
Having already played a pivotal role in securing Tour de France victories for both Froome and Bradley Wiggins, Porte is in big demand and the temptation to stop playing second violin must be sorely tempting. Etixx-Quick Step, Mark Cavendish’s team, are also rumoured to be battling for his services.
Despite his understandable reluctance to discuss Porte’s future, the Australian’s current team manager had no hesitation in discussing his past.
“Richie’s a fantastic rider,” said Brailsford. “For the first half of the season, without a shadow of a doubt, he was the best rider in the world. He had a tricky couple of days in the Giro and we didn’t see the best of him there as far as I’m concerned. But he’s here now, he’s in great shape and we’re ready to go. We’re a close-knit team, we’re here to race the Tour de France and we’ll sort other things like that out when it’s right to do so.”
Addressing the world’s press before the Tour’s Grand Départ, Brailsford claimed the formidable line-up of riders who flanked him were picked because they best suit Sky’s Tour strategy. “The one thing for sure is that I have absolute confidence in this group,” he said.
“Who knows what the outcome is going to be? The one thing I do know is that this group will pull together and they will leave everything on the road out there in their attempts to do the best they can absolutely do. I have absolutely no qualms about that.”
