Richie Porte finally shrugged off the bridesmaid’s tag to be crowned champion of the 2017 Tour Down Under in Adelaide on Sunday.
Tasmanian Porte had been forced to settle for second place for the past two years, but comfortably retained his 48 second lead in the sixth and final stage of this year’s edition.
Caleb Ewan stormed to his fourth TDU stage win for 2017 as he once again proved unbeatable in a sprint finish, but it was Porte who had the biggest smile after finally claiming the prestigious title on home soil.
“I’ve been so close in this race for the past two years, so it’s so good to come back and finally win it,” Porte said.
“BMC sent such a strong team down here, so I owed it to my team-mates and each day they got me over the line.”
Porte went into the Tour not knowing how prepared he was having missed the back end of last season due to an injury sustained in a crash at the 2016 Olympic Games.
“After crashing in Rio it was not too hard to be motivated to come back for this race,” he added.
“I had a good break and came back refreshed mentally and physically and to win the Tour Down Under means a hell of a lot.”
Esteban Chaves retained his place to claim runner-up overall behind Porte, while Jay McCarthy pipped Nathan Haas to third.
The UniSA-Australia earned the team prize ahead of Movistar and Trek-Segafredo,