Porte had conceded time over the first three stages, first after being caught up behind the second mass crash on Stage 1, again on Stage 2 when doing a lot of work for Geraint Thomas on the final climb, then yet again on Stage 3 when caught out behind some splits.
He bounced back in the individual time trial, showing why many had him as one of the contenders for the final yellow jersey, finishing ninth in the time trial and moving up on the general classification.
“I guess I’m happy with that," said Porte. "It ended up being a little bit more dry than I expected. Happy to get that time trial out of the way, I’m the third-fastest so far but there are some pretty fast guys to come so we’ll see how it holds up."
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The Criterium du Dauphine winner was asked how he recovered from his early difficulties at the race.
“The crash for me was more of a hindrance for me, I didn’t actually really come down, more got stuck behind it," said Porte. So far, so good, see how Geraint (Thomas) pulls up today and Carapaz is super motivated for today as well.”
Thomas and Carapaz produced solid performances to finish in similar spots to a number of the general classification stars, with Thomas unhappy with losing time to his main GC rivals, Pogačar and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).
“Obviously, a bit disappointed," said Thomas. "I think I rode it pretty well. I went out a bit conservative on the first drag then I thought I brought it home ok, but I was just hurting. That’s what I had.
“Today I felt stiffer than yesterday, but I don’t want to just talk about that all the time.”
The team came into the Tour with the intention of being aggressive in the fight for the yellow jersey with multiple threats, but as it currently stands, Carapaz is a minute and 36 seconds behind Pogačar, Thomas is a further ten seconds in arrears while Porte is three minutes and 50 seconds behind.
The Tour de France continues with Stage 6, a flat 160-kilometre stage from Tours to Châteauroux, a stage expected to finish with a bunch sprint. Watch the action on SBS, the SKODA Tour Tracker and SBS OnDemand from 2130 AEST.
