Richie Porte: "Blockhaus is going to be a super important day"

INEOS Grenadiers have not taken a conservative stance in the opening eight days of the race, however they haven't taken any visible gains from it yet. Richie Porte has talked about the team's tactics so far, and how he views the team's work.

At the end of stage seven, where INEOS Grenadiers once again took responsibility of the peloton, Porte has told VeloNews how the team dealed with the complicated stage. "The downside was Castro’s crash. He hit the deck near the first descent of the day and although he battled through," he told. The Spaniard arrived at the finish battered and bruised within the grupetto, however he's managed to stay afloat in the race.

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After stage eighth, Porte sits ninth in the overall classification, ahead of his leader Richard Carapaz, however with a role that is not yet completely defined. The Tasmanian had said before the Giro that he was happy to not have the pressure to ride for the overall classification, however his current form allows him to ride with the best up the climbs the race has offered so far. 

Although not having attacked, INEOS have put themselves in the head of the peloton on stages four and seven, despite not attacking the race. Porte explains the reason behind that strategy, which has been seen by some as an unnecessary energy expenditure. "We’ve been trying to just put a bit of fatigue into the bunch at times, and to be honest, if we didn’t do that, then someone else and their team would. Sometimes it’s better to be dishing it out instead of taking it," he said.

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Today, there should be no choice to ride conservative, as the 5000 meters of climbing will be culminated with the brutal ascent to Blockhaus. "Blockhaus is going to be a super important day. From what I’ve seen Yates, Bardet, Landa, and Carapaz are all going well. They all like to be aggressive, so it could be a really explosive stage. It will be hard before we even get to that climb though, so it might be a bit of a death march for those final kilometers," Porte said.

Tonight, a new order to the overall classification and the race will be in display ahead of the second rest day. As for his role, it seems very clear within the team: "My job will be to support Carapaz, and I’m really excited about that. I’m enjoying riding for him because he just appreciates it so much," he concluded.