Nicolas Roche has announced his retirement from pro cycling after 17 full seasons in the top flight of the sport. The end of his career is immediate as he has ridden his last race.
The 37-year-old has made his announcement this evening just 24 hours after riding the elite men's race at the National Road Championships in Co Wicklow.
In statement issued today, Roche said while he had always wanted to continue racing for as long as possible, things changed for him in August when he simply decided he want to do other things with his life.
"For the first time in my life I woke up one morning before a race knowing it was time to do something else," he said.
Roche, who always rode for Ireland from the time he was a junior, began his first steps into the pro peloton back in 2004 when he rode as a stagiaire for Cofidis, le Crédit par Téléphone.
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He was taken on by that team on full-time basis for the
following season and remained until the end of 2016.
At that point he signed for Crédit Agricole, riding for the French team for two seasons before switching to AG2R La Mondiale in 2009, spending four years with that team – the longest stint he stay with any team during his career.
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He then went on to ride for Saxo-Tinkoff in 2013 and 2014 and then spent the next two years with Team Sky and then another two with BMC Racing. He then signed for Team Sunweb for 2019 and has remained with that team, now Team DSM, this year.
Roche took his first big win in 2006, when he claimed a
stage at the Tour de l’Avenir and also held the yellow jersey and then won the
elite Irish TT title the following year, aged 23 years.
In 2008 he won a stage at GP Internacional Paredes Rota
dos Móveis and another at the Tour du Limousin.
He won the national road race title in 2009 and in 2011
won a stage at Tour of Beijing. In 2013 he won stage 2 of La Vuelta and took
the race lead for a day on stage 8.
In 2014 Roche won a stage and the overall at La Route du Sud Cycliste-La Dépêche du Midi and in 2015 won stage 18 of La Vuelta and the following year he did the double at the National Road Championships, taking road race and TT gold. He also led the Vuelta for a second time in 2019.
Roche rode the Tour de France nine times, taking a best
place overall in 2012 when he was 12th. He finished in the top 10 twice at La
Vuelta, taking 6th in 2010 and 5th in 2013.
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