Nicolas Roche

Nicolas Roche

Roche at the 2013 Tour de France
Personal information
Full name Nicolas Roche
Nickname Nico[1]
Born (1984-07-03) 3 July 1984
Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Weight 70 kg (150 lb; 11 st)[2]
Team information
Current team Team Sky
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type All-rounder
Amateur team(s)
2002 OCCV Draguignan
2003 SC Nice
2003–2004 Vélo-Club La Pomme Marseille
2004 Cofidis (stagiaire)
Professional team(s)
2005–2006 Cofidis
2007–2008 Crédit Agricole
2009–2012 Ag2r–La Mondiale
2013–2014 Saxo–Tinkoff
2015– Team Sky
Major wins

Grand Tours

Vuelta a España
2 individual stages (2013, 2015)

Stage races

Route du Sud (2014)

One-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships (2009)
National Time Trial Championships (2007)
Infobox last updated on
10 September 2015

Nicolas Roche (born 3 July 1984) is an Irish professional road bicycle racer. He has twice been national champion and has numerous top ten finishes in Grand Tour stages, including stage wins at the 2013 Vuelta a España and the 2015 Vuelta a España. He represented Ireland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the road race. He has competed for Ireland 7 times at the road world championships.

Early life

Roche, who was born in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France, is the son of former cycling champion Stephen Roche and his former wife, Lydia, nephew of former cycling professionals Lawrence Roche and Neil Martin and cousin of 2008 Irish road champion Dan Martin. He spent his childhood living in both Ireland and France, living in Dublin from 1996 to 1999, where he was educated at Lycée Français d'Irlande in Foxrock for two years and Blackrock College, a private school in Dublin, for one year. During this period he was a keen soccer and rugby player.[3] He moved to southern France in 1999, where he spent most of life since. He currently resides in Monaco, having previously lived in Varese, Italy until 2013.[3]

Career

Early years

He turned professional at the end of 2004, with team Cofidis and became one of the youngest UCI ProTour racers.[4] As his father is Irish and his mother French, Roche had dual nationality as an amateur. In early 2005, Roche was told by French officials to choose between his two nationalities. Roche declared for France as he was planning to spend the rest of his life in France.[5] The loss of Roche was a blow to Irish cycling,[6] as he had won the 2002 Junior Tour of Ireland[7] and finished third in the 2004 Irish Elite championship.[8] However, six months later, the UCI and Cycling Ireland told Roche he was given incorrect information, and that he could compete for Ireland and keep his two nationalities, which he did.[9]

During his first two years, he was often a domestique, but he did get a few good results, mostly in French Cup races. His first win as a professional was a stage in the 2004 Tour de l'Avenir, a race known as a mini-Tour de France for riders under 25.[10][11] He wore the yellow jersey for two days and finished tenth overall. He was in major breakaway in the 2006 World championships in Salzburg, Austria.[12] Soon after, he signed a two-year contract with Crédit Agricole on the back of his many good results this season.

Credit Agricole (2007–2008)

(2007)

In 2007, Roche rode the Giro d'Italia. In June, he won the Irish National Time Trial Championships (CN) in Dungarvan.[13] He came also fourth in the Road Race Championship. Due to injury, Roche withdrew from the Tour of Ireland and missed the World Championship.

(2008)

Roche had planned 2008 for the Giro d'Italia but organizers RCS did not invite his team. He changed his schedule, and finished sixth in the Tour Ivoirien de la Paix, 15th in Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas in Spain and won a stage[14] in GP Internacional Paredes Rota dos Móveis in Portugal. After finishing seventh of the Tour de Wallonie, he competed in the Beijing Olympic road race, teaming with Philip Deignan, won a stage in the Tour du Limousin, and was then picked for his first Vuelta a España. Roche had good performances in the Vuelta, nearly winning stage 18 into Las Rozas, where he was outsprinted by Imanol Erviti after a 17-man breakaway. Roche had three top-ten and ten top-20 stage finishes, finishing a fine 13th in the general classification, during what was only his second Grand Tour.

Roche along with Deignan and Roger Aiken made up the Irish team for the 2008 World Championship in Varese. Roche was in an early crash and retired.

Ag2r (2009–2012)

(2009)

Roche at the 2009 Tour de France

Roche signed a two-year contract with Ag2r–La Mondiale following the disbandment of Crédit Agricole.

For most part of the year and after a solid performance in the Critérium du Dauphiné Roche was in consideration for the Tour de France team and After winning the Irish National Road Race Championship for the first time in June 2009, it was announced that Roche had been selected by Ag2r to ride his first Tour de France the following month. He had a fine debut Tour, finishing in 23rd place overall and 5th in the points classification. He had five top ten placings in the race and finished 2nd on stage 14.

He was UCI World Ranked 144th at the end of the 2009 season with 15 points, which helped Ireland to 16th place in the nation rankings.

2010

After a good early season, where he finished 10th in Paris–Nice, 5th in the Volta a Catalunya and 2nd in the Irish National Elite Road Race Championships, Roche was chosen as the co-leader of the Ag2r–La Mondiale team in the Tour de France and during the race he wrote articles for the Irish Independent newspaper. Roche finished 15th overall. He could have been a few ranks above had he not lost four minutes to the race leaders because of a flat tyre in stage 15.

After the Tour, Roche finished 8th in the Clásica de San Sebastián and In September, He led AG2R at the Vuelta a España. His performance was even better than during the Tour de France, as he was really close to the best climbers of the race, losing very little time in stages with a mountain top finish. He finished 7th overall however was premoted to 6th overall after Ezequiel Mosquera's second place was annulled. He finished only five minutes and three seconds behind overall winner Vincenzo Nibali. This place was the best in a Grand Tour by an Irishman since 1988. The performance lifted him to 32nd in the year end UCI World Rankings with 148 pts. This helped Ireland to 17th place in the nation rankings (254 points).

Roche was part of the three-man Irish team at the 2010 World Championships in September.

2011

Roche at the 2011 Tour de France

Roche's season was hampered by injuries and crashes, particularly by one in the Critérium du Dauphiné[15] He entered the Tour de France as a team leader again, but quickly realized he had not fully recovered from the crash and could not hope for a good general classification. He got in a number of unsuccessful breaks in the final week, hoping to grab a stage win, and eventually finished 26th overall. He also rode the Vuelta a España, finishing 16th overall.

In October, Roche won the 3rd stage of the inaugural Tour of Beijing.[16][17] This marked his first international victory in three years and his first ever win on the World Tour. He finished the season world ranked 150th with 19 ranking points, thus helping Ireland to 13th in the nation rankings with 319 points.

Roche published a memoir in 2011 called Inside the Peloton. It won that year's Irish Book Award in the Sports Book category.

2012

Roche renounced his French citizenship in 2012, becoming solely an Irish national.[3] He showed some form with top-20 finishes in Paris–Nice and the Tour of California. He finished 10th overall in the Tour de Suisse, and 2nd and 3rd respectively in the National Road Race and Time Trial Championships before riding the Tour de France . Roche moved up to seventh overall on the first mountain stage seven which finished on La Planche des Belles Filles. However he lost time over the time trial on stage nine and rest of the mountain stages. On stage 18, Roche broke clear of the peloton in the last 10 km (6.2 mi) with Luis Leon Sanchez. The pair passed the day's breakaway and looked set to contest the stage win only to for Mark Cavendish to sprint past in the final 200 meters. Roche sat 11th overall heading into the time trial on stage 20 and targeted a top ten finish, but a weak time trial saw him drop a place to 12th. Roche, along with Dan Martin and David McCann, represented Ireland in the Olympic Games Road Race. He then rode the Vuelta a Espana where he had a good start and sat seventh overall by the second week of the race. However, he struggled through the last week of the race and dropped down to 12th overall by the end of the race.

Tinkoff Saxo (2013–2014)

On 1 August, it was announced that Roche would leave Ag2r–La Mondiale at the end of the 2012 season, ending an eight-year association with French-registered teams.[18] He signed a two-year contract with Saxo–Tinkoff for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.[19]

2013

Roche at the 2015 Vuelta a España

Throughout much of the season with Tinkoff Saxo including the Tour de France, he rode as a domestique for Alberto Contador with few results. After a good performance at the Clásica de San Sebastián finishing 5th, He was given leadership at the Vuelta a España. On 25 August, Roche won stage two of the Vuelta by breaking away with three others on the final climb at the end of the 177 km (110.0 mi) stage from Pontevedra to Alto Do Monte Da Groba.[20][21] Roche held the leader's red jersey after stage 8. He had also held the points classification, mountains classification and combination classification at one stage in the race. On stage 8 Roche lost the jersey finishing eight seconds behind Daniel Moreno to fall one second behind in the general classification. After stage 13 Roche was 2nd overall but on a cold day to Andorra on stage 14 he dropped to 6th overall. He went on to finish 5th overall in the general classification, his best result to date in a Grand Tour.[22][23] Later that year Roche again competed for Ireland in the World Championships and the World Time Trial Championships where he finished 13th.

2014

Roche had few early season results before participating in the Giro d'Italia which started in Ireland and was given the role as co-leader with Rafal Majka. Roche also took part at the Tour de France as a domestique to Alberto Contador. Before the Tour, Roche won the overall classification of the Route du Sud ahead of Alejandro Valverde. He won the queen stage win in the process and also the points classification. This was His first stage race victory and was a race which his father also won in 1985.[24] Roche went in to the Tour of Britain expecting a good result[25] and placed 5th overall.

Team Sky (2015-)

In 2015, Roche left Tinkoff–Saxo to join Team Sky.[26] On 10 September, Roche won stage 18 of the Vuelta a España in a sprint finish against Haimar Zubeldia.[27][28]

Palmarès

2004
3rd National Road Race Championships
10th Grand Prix d'Isbergues
2005
4th Tour de Vendée
6th Tour du Finistère
2006
4th Overall Paris–Corrèze
4th National Road Race Championships
8th Polynormande
10th Overall Tour de l'Avenir
1st Stage 4
10th Paris–Camembert
2007
1st National Time Trial Championships
4th National Road Race Championships
5th Polynormande
6th Grand Prix de Denain
9th Paris–Camembert
9th Tro-Bro Léon
2008
1st Stage 1 GP Internacional Paredes Rota dos Móveis
1st Stage 1 Tour du Limousin
6th Rund um den Henninger-Turm
6th Overall Tour Ivoirien de la Paix
7th Overall Tour de Wallonie
8th Paris–Camembert
2009
1st National Road Race Championships
2010
2nd National Road Race Championships
3rd Gran Premio dell'Insubria-Lugano
4th GP Aargau canton
5th Overall Volta a Catalunya
6th Overall Vuelta a España
8th Clásica de San Sebastián
10th Overall Paris–Nice
2011
1st Stage 3 Tour of Beijing
4th National Road Race Championships
5th Giro del Piemonte
8th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
10th Paris–Camembert
2012
2nd National Road Race Championships
3rd National Time Trial Championships
10th Overall Tour de Suisse
2013
5th Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stage 2
Held after Stage 8
Held after Stages 2 & 3
Held after Stages 2–9
Held after Stages 2–8, 11–13
5th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
5th Clásica de San Sebastián
2014
1st Overall Route du Sud
1st Stage 2
1st Points classification
5th Overall Tour of Britain
Combativity award Stage 11 Tour de France
2015
1st Stage 18 Vuelta a España
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour de Romandie
2016
2nd Overall Tour de Yorkshire

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Pink jersey Giro d'Italia 123 — — — — — — 30 —
Yellow jersey Tour de France — — 22 14 25 12 40 39 35
golden jersey Vuelta a España — 13 — 6 16 12 5 — 26

References

  1. ↑ Martin, Dan (26 August 2013). "Dan Martin’s Vuelta Diary: ‘I saw Nico attack . . . he surged and went away like a rocket’". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Nicolas Roche profile".
  3. 1 2 3 Kimmage, Paul (22 March 2015). "Paul Kimmage on why Nicolas Roche is determined to be his own man in the peloton and off the bike". independent.ie. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Roche makes it official". IrishCycling.com. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  5. ↑ "Reluctant Roche declares for France". CyclingNews.com. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  6. ↑ "Mixed start to season after Roche’s shock defection". IrishAbroad.com. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  7. ↑ "2002 Michael Donnelly Junior Tour of Ireland results". CyclingNews.com. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  8. ↑ "2004 Irish Elite Road Race Championships". CyclingNews.com. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  9. ↑ "Roche redeclares for Ireland". CyclingNews.com. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  10. ↑ "2006 Tour de l'Avenir Stage 4 results". CyclingNews.com. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  11. ↑ "2006 Tour de l'Avenir Stage 4 description". LeTour.com. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  12. ↑ "Bettini wins world championships, Roche impresses with aggressive move". CyclingNews.com. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  13. ↑ "Roche wins Irish time trial championships". IrishCycling.com. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  14. ↑ "Win for Roche in Portugal". IrishCycling.com. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  15. ↑ Cromwell, Gerard (11 June 2011). "Cycling: Roche hopes battered by horror crash". Irish Independent.
  16. ↑ "Nicolas Roche wins stage three to claim first WorldTour race victory". Daily Telegraph (London). 7 October 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  17. ↑ "Roche beats Deignan in Yong Ning Town". Cycling News. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  18. ↑ Roche, Nicolas (1 August 2012). "Joining Contador team a huge new challenge". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  19. ↑ "Roche signs for Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). 1 August 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  20. ↑ "Nicolas Roche claims biggest win of career as Vincenzo Nibali takes lead". Daily Telegraph. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  21. ↑ "Nicolas Roche wins stage two of Vuelta a Espana". RTÉ Sport. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  22. ↑ "Nicolas Roche set to finish fifth in Vuelta after penultimate stage". Irish Independent. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  23. ↑ "Roche takes over leader's jersey from Nibali". Cycling News. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  24. ↑ "Irish cyclist Nicolas Roche emulates father Stephen Roche by winning the Route du Sud race". ABC Australia (2014 ABC). Associated Press. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  25. ↑ "Roche: I’m at the Tour of Britain to get a result". Cyclingnews.com (video) (Future plc). 8 September 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  26. ↑ Nigel Wynn (30 September 2014). "Nicolas Roche joins Sky for 2015". Cycling Weekly (IPC Media Sports & Leisure network). Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  27. ↑ "Nicolas Roche: For once I hadn't messed it up and let out a triumphant roar as I took the stage win". Irish Independent. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  28. ↑ "Emotional Nicolas Roche revels in stunning Vuelta victory". Irish Examiner. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.

Further reading

External links

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