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After a lot of speculation, Richie Porte has confirmed that he will be leaving Team Sky at the end of the 2015 season. Speaking to Australia’s SBS TV after Sunday’s TTT Porte said, "It’s my last Tour de France with Team Sky and I want to finish on a high."
Porte has shown real strength and potential during his four years at Team Sky and has proven himself as a good short stage racer. However Porte struggled at the Giro leaving many questioning whether he has what it takes to win a Grand Tour, although Porte is fully aware he will have more opportunities elsewhere.
Rumours about his ultimate destination are all over the place but he has been strongly linked to BMC. There has also been speculation about a move to Orica-GreenEdge, which does not currently possess a GC contender, and Etixx-Quick Step.
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In his diary in the Sydney Morning Herald Porte said, "At 30 years of age, I feel I am at the optimal period of my career… So I need to make a leap of faith and find out for myself if I am capable of it."
Richie Porte had an excellent start to the 2015 season after winning Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya and the Giro del Trentino in a short space of time. Porte went to the Giro d’Italia as one of the favourites but after a puncture on Stage 10, he accepted a wheel from Simon Clarke and was docked two minutes. A crash on Stage 13 lost him a further two minutes and resulted in a knee injury that forced him out of the race.
Porte currently sits 144th in the Tour de France GC, over 44 minutes down on his teammate Chris Froome.
