The stage was a relatively straightforward one from Porte's team's perspective, with Trek-Segafredo called upon to do little throughout the stage, and the action limited to the final climb of the day.
There were splits in the main group as Jumbo-Visma set a hard pace on the final climb, with a number of contenders dropped from the main group, which was a slim 16 riders by the stage finish. Porte finished in 14th, with teammate Bauke Mollema in 13th on the day.
“Good," said Porte when asked how the stage had gone. "I think Bauke and I were still up with the main guys. The team did a great job today, Mads was exceptional and put us in a good position. It’s nice to get through and nice to finally get some good weather.”
Porte was able to respond when the pressure went on, and although he doesn't possess the same acceleration as the likes of stage-winner Primoz Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) he managed to hold on to finish on the bunch time with the first finisher.
‘The last kilometre really hurt," said Porte. "It wasn’t a real climb to the finish there, it was four or five per cent sprint and it really hurt. Where you get GC guys up there sprinting like that it can get a bit messy. But it’s a good stage to tick off.”
“We’ll get through tomorrow, no stage at the Tour is easy and today was really fast. Then Stage 6 is the first real mountain top finish.”
The Tour de France continues with Stage 5 from Gap to Privas, with a slight uphill sprint to the line at the finish. The race action starts on the SBS ŠKODA Tour Tracker from 9.00pm AEST, with coverage beginning on SBS HD and SBS On Demand from 9.30pm.
