For some, cycling is just a sport, hobby, or activity used to bond a team or people who want to bond as a team. But for Richie Porte, his whole life and everything we know about him revolves around two-wheelers. Here’s everything you need to know about this man who managed to do what he loves to do.
Richie Porte – Everything you need to know about the pro cyclist
With his zodiac sign Aquarius, Richie PorteIan and Penny Porte were born on January 30, 1985, one of four children they raised at their home in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. His siblings include two older brothers, Nick and Keiran, and a younger brother called Tom.
Porte had a normal childhood in his childhoodparents’ house. He started playing sports like most kids his age would. The young boy was a good runner, swimmer, and was also good at punching. Of the three he was known for at the time, Richie Porte was more involved in swimming at his school; St Patrick’s College near the town of Hadspen, Launceston.
In his teens, he became a Trier triathlete; He worked as a lifeguard at the pool, as a parts hauler or in the Tasmanian football league as a referee, which took him the length of the field to follow the direction of the game, which in fact doubled as a running training walk for him.
Carrier start
Richie Porte was still an active triathlete when he raced his first bike race in 2005 in his early twenties. He entered the competition in the CD category and won all stages of the competition, including the cash prize of $350.
He competed again in 2006 after quitting triathlon and finished third in the Tasmanian race from Longford to Campbelltown. It was during this race that his performance caught the attention of Andrew Christie-Johnston who invited him to take part in the Canberra circuit.
Move to Europe
The Tasmanian knew from the start that cycling was a big deal in Europe and he had to leave his comfort zone in Australia if he wanted you and so many others to read about him, as you do now. Encouraged by his mentor, Andrew, and his parents, Richie decided to head to Europe, with Italy being his destination in mid-2007.
His arrival in Europe caught the attention of the cycling community with the winning of his first race. Richie was then invited to join the Monsummanese amateur team Bedogni Grassi, who ended up being distant family to the Australian.
Injury
His impressive performance in Italy with his new team is not one that would continue without a hitch. Richie Porte suffered a broken hip in an accident which sidelined him for some time.
Nevertheless, the former triathlete reunited with the Praties to compete in the 2008 Tour of Tasman, in which he proved himself by winning a stage and the overall title. On that winning note, Richie made his comeback in Europe placing big in races like the Giro Baby, where he took ninth place overall and won the race against the clock.
Teams and laurels
Richie Porte was a member of the UniSA – Australia’s 2008 Tour Down Under team where he finished ninth overall. Towards the end of 2008 and well into 2009, he was part of Tasmania’s UCI Continental team, Praties, when he finished fifth in the 2008 Herald Sun Tournament and won the Tours of Perth and Tasmania. After arriving in Europe, Richie joined Italian amateur team Monsummanese Grassi Mapei.
After his impressive performance, he had professional teams like Team Saxo Bank got interested in him. Richie joined Banks in 2010 and in April of that year won the Tour de Romandie stage time trial and finished tenth. He won the young rider classification, by a 7’29” lead over Robert Kišerlovski on his Giro d’Italia debut, where he finished seventh overall and established himself as the rider of the future.
Richie remained with the Saxo Bank team until 2015 recording several firsts including the first JerseyAustralia.PNG race, road national championships, first overall Volta a Catalunya overall, first purple jersey.
He joined BMC in 2016 and his performance did not come short of expectations. He won for the third consecutive time the 5th stage of Willunga Hill at the Tour Down Under. In 2017, he won the 1st Yellow yellow.svg Jersey in the Tour de Romandie general classification and the 1st Yellow yellow.svg Jersey in the Tour de Suisse in 2018 with several other laurels.
Family life
The Australian professional cyclist is a married man. He has been married to Gemma Nicole Porte since 2015 and met her four years earlier. They both share a child, which is the first time their union has been produced.
Body Stats
Richie is 5 feet 7 inches (about 171cm) tall. With this height, the cyclist weighs 63.5 kg. His chest, biceps and waist measurements are not available at this time, but like most other professionals in his industry, Richie Porte has a lean physique.