Britain was good to Nicolas Roche last time out, with 2nd overall at the Tour de Yorkshire in May. He says he's unsure of his condition but is open minded about it going his way.
By Shane Stokes
He was sidelined from racing for several weeks as a result of severe pneumonia, but Nicolas Roche will nevertheless begin the Tour of Britain tomorrow hoping for a good performance in the race.
Although the Team Sky rider admits he is uncertain about his form, he remains open to the possibility that he will be able to show well during the event.
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“I have no idea how I will go,” Roche told stickybottle as the start approached.
“I was in top form before being sick. I had nine days off in total. It’s a lot, but not that dramatic.
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“I have done a good two weeks training. So I hope that I’m in okay condition.”
Roche rode the Giro d’Italia this year and missed the Tour de France, with the team opting for fresher riders in its ultimately-successful bid to win the race with Chris Froome.
Roche was disappointed to miss out but prepared as best as he could for the Olympic Games.
He took an extremely rare double in the Irish national time trial and road race championships then went to the Tour of Poland.
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After performing solidly there, he travelled to the Clasica San Sebastian and finished an impressive ninth.
Crossing the finish line just 34 seconds behind the winner Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) set him up well for the road race in Rio, but on the day he finished 29th.
Roche had hoped for more and said afterwards that chasing back on after a mechanical had cost him a lot of energy.
However, having felt the symptoms of pneumonia the following day, it is possible the illness was already in his system at that point.
He was hit badly by the illness and was forced to withdraw from the team for his favourite event of each season, the Vuelta a España. He revealed last month that he had undergone tests for Legionnaires’ Disease, a severe form of pneumonia.
Roche initially expected the results within a week but has not yet been told the outcome of those checks.
In the meantime his symptoms receded and he was given a green light to resume training.
He has gradually built things up since then and was given a green light by Team Sky to compete in the British race.
“I’m going there open-minded,” he said. “I want to do good. But I’m also going there without knowing what to expect.”
The Tour of Britain begins on tomorrow in Glasgow.
Roche placed fifth overall two years ago and also went close to winning stage three to the top of The Tumble. He was leading on the climb but was passed by two riders before the summit, netting third.
His first cousin Dan Martin will also ride the race with his Etixx-QuickStep squad, with Ryan Mullen riding with Cannondale-Drapac, Conor Dunne with JLT Condor and former Irish road champion Damien Shaw the sole Irishman in the An Post-Chainreaction line-up.
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