TASMANIAN cyclist Richie Porte completed the most successful season of his career last night with another accolade and a pledge to step up even higher next year.
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The Hadspen 28-year-old was named Tasmanian athlete of the year in honour of his glut of impressive WorldTour performances including winning Paris-Nice and helping a Sky teammate to the Tour de France crown for the second successive year.
Porte said he was proud to win the award from an impressive collection of Tasmanian international champions and was delighted to be living his dream.
``I still pinch myself most days that all I do is ride a bike. It's not reality. Not many people get to do that.
``There's not a day that goes by that I'm not happy with what I'm doing.''
The former triathlete had a phenomenal season highlighted by his support of Chris Froome to the Tour de France title, which also saw him finishing stage eight in second place to hold the same position on general classification.
But Monaco-based Porte admitted claiming the prestigious week-long Paris-Nice stage race, after winning two stages including the individual time trial, was the biggest result of a career that had also seen him lead the 2010 Giro d'Italia for three days.
``Without doubt. Second in a stage of the Tour means nothing compared to winning Paris-Nice just 10 kilometres from my adopted home in Europe - that was one of the best days of my life,'' he said.
``To the public the Tour seems to be the only race but there are some good ones outside it, and Paris-Nice is one of the good ones to win.
``It was my contract year and there was a bit of pressure on me, so to go and win there proved that if they do put pressure on me, which they love doing, I can finish it off.
``Paris-Nice and the Dauphine, where I was second, give me confidence about next year, when I will get to lead the team in the Giro.''
A Team Sky training camp in Europe meant Porte could not collect the award in person at Wrest Point last night, but Sports Minister Michelle O'Byrne said becoming the first Australia to win Paris-Nice before claiming third place in the world championship team time trial made him a worthy winner. ``Richie is another example of a Tasmanian athlete with great talent and determination who has been supported by family, the sport and the elite development system,'' she said.
Ms O'Byrne said Tasmania's proud sporting heritage helped produce the impressive list of finalists that also included West Pine's track and road cycling star Amy Cure, Longford's national Twenty20 cricket captain George Bailey, Invermay's lawn bowls world champion Rebecca Van Asch and Hobart's Australian hockey player Eddie Ockenden.
``We consistently achieve greatness on a large scale for a state of just half a million people,'' she said.
``The five finalists for this award have once again exemplified the depth of talent that we have in sport here in Tasmania, and all have excelled at the highest level.''