Impending fatherhood is helping Richie Porte deal with the physical and mental effects of his horrifying Tour de France crash.
The Australian cycling star is upbeat about this year's racing, which opened for him on Friday with a bronze medal in the time trial at the national road championships.
His only other race since the July Tour was the Japan Cup, which Porte did not finish.
Porte was fifth overall, only 39 seconds from the lead, when he crashed at high speed on a descent during stage nine of last year's Tour.
He had started the race as one of the top favourites, but left in an ambulance with a fractured pelvis, a broken collarbone and plenty of road rash.
But the long recovery from his injuries has been fruitful for Porte and his wife Gemma - they are expecting their first child in May.
That has boosted Porte as he tries to return to the form that made him a genuine Tour contender.
"The crashes knock you around physically and mentally as well," he said.
"It is certainly not something I want to have happen again, but at the end of the day, it is a job and you have to get on with it.
"I am more than ready to put that behind me and it already feels like a new start to everything.
"Having a baby on the way too puts things into perspective and I think it will be will."
Porte will now be part of a strong BMC line up in Sunday's nationals road race, along with new recruit Simon Gerrans, road time trial winner Rohan Dennis and defending road race champion Miles Scotson.
The Tasmanian will then defend his Tour Down Under title this month in Adelaide.
While mild conditions are forecast for the men's and women's road races on Sunday, the temperature will hit 39 degrees on Saturday.
The heat wave has prompted nationals organsers to cancel the Gran Fondo amateur event and move the road races forward.
The under-19s men's and women's races will be run from 6.30am at Buninyong, near Ballarat.
The men's under-23 will follow and all racing will be finished by 11.30am.
Share
