Richie Porte was a late addition to the Tirreno-Adriatico start list and today he faced his first big test as Sky leader in the Italian race. The Australian was nervous for today's queen stage but was happy with the outcome that saw him almost single-handedly lead the group of favourites for more than a kilometre near the end.

 

Richie Porte moved up to fourth place in the overall standings at Tirreno-Adriatico after finishing a mountainous fourth stage in fifth position.

 

Porte led an elite group of riders under the flamme rouge as they climbed towards the summit finish in Cittareale, and launched an early attack before he was passed by Alberto Contador in the final 150 metres.

 

It was Contador’s kick that would ultimately prove decisive, with the Tinkoff-Saxo rider battling on to take the stage victory ahead of Nairo Quintana (Movistar), but Porte held on fifth place on the day and crossed the line just five seconds in arrears.

 

Those results ensured that Porte moved within 34 seconds of the leader’s jersey - which was bravely defended by Michal Kwiatkowski – and the Omega Pharma – Quick-Step rider now sits 16 seconds ahead of Contador in the battle for overall victory.

 

"It was a hard, really hard stage," he told Cyclingnews. "I know it wasn't a great idea to ride at the front but you never know, you might slip away if they are riding cat and mouse. I'm not too unhappy with how it panned out. I think I was up there with the top guys and tomorrow's another day.

 

"It's good for the cycling fans to see him (Contador) winning again. This year, maybe he can take it up to Froome a little bit more than he did last year. Now we are all going to be watching Alberto and seeing how he goes tomorrow, too."

 

After the stage Sports Director Dario Cioni was pleased with how events had played out and believes Porte is in a great position with three stages remaining.

 

He said: "Richie had been nervous before today's stage because he didn’t know how his form was compared to the other riders here, but he was really strong and able to mix it up with the very best in the world.

 

“Barring any disasters, he’ll be right up there at the end of this race and he can be happy with his performance today. Bradley [Wiggins] also deserves a mention for the work he did in those last 20km, and Richie was really happy with his efforts.

 

“It was a long stage and they were riding for nearly seven hours today. We had extra staff on the side of the road so the riders didn’t have to come back for as many bottles, and there were no mechanicals or any other problems to sap the energy. Everything went well on the whole and we’re all good to go again tomorrow.

 

“That’s going to be another hard stage at over 200km, with another tough finish. The last climb has a 600-metre section at 22% so there’s going to be another shakedown in the GC, and we’re hoping that will play into our favour.”

 

You can read our preview of stage 5 here.