Porte ascends to top of Tour Down Under

ADELAIDE, Australia: Australian Richie Porte conquered a brutal uphill finish Thursday to claim the third stage and the race leader’s jersey in the Tour Down Under.

Porte, the 2017 TDU winner, made the decisive move for his Trek-Segafredo team in the season’s opening UCI tour, to power up the torturous hill climb to the Paracombe finish in the fire-ravaged Adelaide Hills and win the stage by a commanding five seconds.

Australia’s Rob Powers (Team Sunweb) just held out Britain’s Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) for second, with Australia’s Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos) fourth.

South Africa’s Daryl Impey, chasing a third straight TDU title for Mitchelton-Scott, finished sixth to lie six seconds behind Porte in the general classification with three stages left to Sunday’s finish. “Hats off to the boys,” Porte said. “They did a really good job in controlling it. It was a lung-busting surge by Porte up the 1.7-kilometre final ascent, leaving his rivals trailing in his wake. Impey will need to win time bonuses in the remaining stages for a third straight title.