TDU Stage 5 – Jarlinson Pantano «I said to myself please don’t give up»

The queen stage of the Tour Down Under has knighted Richie Porte (Sky).  As the real king of the final climb up Willunga Hill, the Australian rider won with style by dropping his opponents one by one.  Only overall leader Rohan Dennis managed to hold Porte’s wheel until 700 meters from the finish before being dropped.  The BMC leader was however able to keep close enough to retain his leader’s jersey by two seconds.

Though Richie Porte was the top rider of the fifth stage, IAM Cycling’s Jarlinson Pantano certainly showed his own talent.  Riding with the best until the end, the Colombian rider finished in 11th place on the stage and moved up to 10th place in the overall classification, accomplishing two of his goals for the day.

“I cannot believe it; this is the first time in my career that a team has worked like that for me.  This is absolutely magical.  I’m so happy, I do not know how to thank them.  When Richie Porte attacked on the final, I told myself, don’t give up, resist, hold on.  I did the best I could and I’m happy with what I did.”

Entering the top 10 on the penultimate stage, Jarlinson Pantano certainly could not be happier.  But for the final stage, the team’s ambitions will revolve around Heinrich Haussler, and Pantano is well aware of that.  

“Given what the team has done for me today, I will be happy to return the favor sunday.  I will give everything to help Haussler for the final stage.  The mountain was for me, but now that that is over, I’ll put myself with great pleasure at the service of the team.”