Nicolas Roche no longer has team mates to ride for in the Vuelta general classification. And now the race is a more open one for him (Photo: Chris Auld)
Nicolas Roche BMC team mates' Vuelta challenge over
Losing time in the final kick to the line, seeing your team leader fade and losing the race lead; it sounds like a nightmare day for any rider.
But for BMC Racing’s Nicolas Roche; Vuelta 2018 opened up for him in the final of stage 2 yesterday.
His team mate Rohan Dennis had won Saturday evening’s short opening TT in Malaga to take the race lead.
However, while the team worked on the front yesterday to ensure the early escape didn’t ride away, Dennis faltered at the last.
When the field split on the Alto de la Messa climb to the finish line, Dennis went backwards.
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He would finish in 167th, at the back of the gruppetto some 13:31 down; his lead well and truly lost.
Just ahead of him, but in the same group and so losing the same time, was BMC team leader Richie Porte.
The Australian has not raced since he crashed out of the Tour de France on stage 8. He also fell ill in the days leading up to the Vuelta.
He was very quick in recent days to dampen any expectations he had a general classification ride in his legs. His 148th place yesterday confirmed his prognosis.
After winning the opening time trial, had Dennis held the leader's jersey for even a few stages, Roche would have been forced to set aside his own aspirations in favour of the team.
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Porte still harbours hopes of riding well in the third week. But that will be for a stage win rather than any miraculous general classification comeback.
With the two Australians losing time, Roche doesn’t need to worry about riding for Dennis to defend a jersey or for Porte in the overall. And that means the race has suddenly opened up for him.
The Irish rider lost time himself yesterday in the final kick to the finish line; Team Sky really stretching it out in the last couple of kilometres.
However, the 15 seconds Roche relinquished to stage winner Alejandro Valverde is unlikely to cost him even one place in the general standings when the race reaches Madrid in three weeks.
Suddenly Roche finds himself the only BMC Racing man still with general classification hopes intact.
The Irish rider lost 35 seconds in Saturday’s TT in Malaga, where he finished 43rd.
That time loss combined with the seconds relinquished yesterday and time bonuses mean Roche is now 50 seconds off race leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky).
With Nicolas Roche having always favoured the Vuelta and having come into better form of late – he was 5th overall at the Arctic Race of Norway – a general classification ride now looks on the cards.
He certainly does not believe being slightly distanced in the final few hundred metres yesterday, when he was 23rd into Caminito del Rey, was anything to worry about.
Indeed, he would have lost slightly less time had he not been just a few lengths off the back of a group that gave up only eight seconds to Valverde and Kwiatkowski; winner and runner-up respectively.
“I was feeling OK today after the time trial yesterday,” he said after the harder than expected stage 2 finish.
“I think with my lack of racing in the past weeks, I was missing something in the final 500m.
“I was in a good position but I didn’t have the kick I needed. I’m a little bit disappointed that I couldn’t accelerate.
“But I think I will ride myself into the race. Fifteen seconds lost today is not a big deal.”
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