A snow covered Mount Etna is the backdrop for Nicolas Roche and his Tinkoff-Saxo team's high altitude training camp in Italy at present.
By Gerard Cromwell
Having last raced at Milan-San Remo, Nicolas Roche is currently on a three-week training camp with his Tinkoff-Saxo team in Italy.
While team leader Alberto Contador and others are in action at the Tour of the Basque Country this week, Roche has been training at altitude on the slopes of Mount Etna with the rest of the squad in preparation for the Giro d’Italia, which begins in Belfast on May 9th.
“I arrived with Chris Anker Sorenson just over a week ago,” Roche told stickybottle.
“We have 10 riders and four staff here now. The first few days we just did three or four-hour spins with no specific work, but now everyone is here and today was the first really hard day.”
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The most active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna is a popular tourist destination and in recent years has also become a hub of cycling activity as Italian teams in particular use it as their training base ahead of the Giro.
The weather the past week however has disrupted some of the Tinkoff-Saxo squads training plans, with snow forcing them to train indoors on at least one occasion.
“The hotel is really nice but it’s still snowing on top, where it’s based. We’ve had bad luck with the weather in general. It’s rained on four of our six training spins so far but the training has been going well and we still have almost two weeks to go”
Roche in the green points jersey on stage 3 of the Vuelta last year having taken victory the previous day; it turned out to be his best race ever, adding his stage win to wearing all the classification leader's jerseys before taking 5th overall (Photo: Sirotti)
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Roche will next race at the Amstel Gold Race in Holland on April 20th. He will also ride Fleche-Wallone and Liege-Bastogne-Liege over the following week, before making a beeline for Belfast and the Giro start.
“I haven’t ridden the Giro since 2007, when it was my first ever Grand Tour," he said.
"Riding the Giro and then the Tour this year instead of the Tour and Vuelta is a big change from my usual race program but I hope to arrive in Belfast in good shape.”
Roche admits however that with a team time trial and two mainly flat road stages in Ireland, his chances of donning the pink jersey or winning a stage here are slim.
“If we had a finish up St Patrick’s Hill, maybe I could do something but the early stages suit the sprinters. So I won’t be doing anything crazy just to get on TV.
"I think having the Giro in Ireland is going to be really special for both the riders and the Irish fans. I’m really looking forward to it.
"To be able to ride one of the biggest races in the world in Ireland, on some of the roads I raced on as an underage rider, is a once in a lifetime experience.”
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