Australian will start of Spanish Grand Tour on Saturday
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Richie Porte on stage at the 2018 Tour de France team presentation(Image credit: Getty Images)
Richie Porte (BMC) out of the Tour de France(Image credit: Getty Images)
All smiles from Richie Porte (BMC Racing)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Richie Porte warms up alongside Simon Gerrans ahead of the stage(Image credit: Josh Evans/Immediate Media)
Richie Porte (BMC) ahead of the 2018 Tour de France(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Richie Porte’s countdown to the Vuelta a España has hit a late bump in the road, with the Australian missing Thursday’s team presentation and press conference because of a bout of gastroenteritis.
The BMC Racing Team rider will still start the race, the team's Twitter account confirmed on Thursday, and a team source separately confirmed to Cyclingnews.
Porte's illness, team doctor Daniele Zaccaria said on the BMC account, began when he woke up with some "intestinal issues this [Thursday] morning.
"We have been monitoring him during the day and although it is nothing too serious, we feel the best thing for his recovery is to rest for the remainder of the day."
Porte was expected to recommence light training on Friday and then be on the start line on Saturday, the team added. Although "not ideal," the team said, they were confident that rest would help Porte get back to his pre-race form.
The Australian opted for the Vuelta after a bad crash in stage 9 of the Tour de France wrecked his chances in his initial main Grand Tour target of the season.
Porte was already in the news on Thursday, too, after a long-rumoured confirmation that he would be riding for Trek-Segafredo in 2019 finally came through.
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Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
