After two promising rides in his first stage race of the year, Nicolas Roche said he is feeling happy and confident about his form but not getting carried away.
While he has finished in the select group on the two
opening stages of Tour du Haut-Var he was keeping things in perspective as it
was not a WorldTour race.
However, with the likes of Nairo Quintana and Thibaut
Pinot in the field, and all three of the race’s stages featuring uphill
finishes, Roche has done well so far.
He had a roller coaster ending to last season when he took the lead at the Vuelta only to crash out of the race the day after relinquishing the iconic red jersey.
When a fractured kneecap was diagnosed after his fall, Roche was forced to end his season and to have a prolonged period off the bike.
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However, he was able to return to initial training in early October and has now told stickybottle he had been sure to carefully manage the injury.
At Tour du Haut-Var he was 19th on the first stage on Friday; last man of a 16-man group that finished a handful of seconds behind three breakaway riders.
And yesterday when Nairo Quintana attacked on the uphill finish, Roche was in the 22-rider group that finished 40 seconds down on the Colombian.
The Irish rider was 6th on the stage and was equal on time overall, 40 seconds down on Quintana, with 15 other riders, going into Sunday’s final stage, featuring an uphill finish on Mont Faron.
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Asked how he felt about his form so far, especially coming back from a serious injury and an enforced break from the bike, he replied: “Happy”. Indeed, he felt his longer than usual off-season was now helping him.
“On the first stage I attacked with about 800m to go but it was too long (to the finish line) and I was caught at 250 metres to go; hence finishing last of that group,” he said.
“Today (Saturday) I was happy because I really wanted to be good on this stage,” he explained of the Col d’Eze finish, which was about 10km from his home.
Roche is normally a rider who likes lots of racing before he gets into top form. However, despite his break due to his injury, the very early signs in 2020 are that he is going well, something he said he expected.
“I’m not surprised. I’ve been going really well since
January at the (team training) camps and I was confident that my level was
better than some starts of years in the past.
“I think the Vuelta crash gave me that bit more recovery
time in the winter. In other years I’ve had almost no time because I always
finished racing so late in the year.
“I’ve also changed my training slightly and it seems that it’s working so far. But I’m also not getting overexcited. This is not a WorldTour race. I still have lots of work to do.”
While keeping his performances of the last couple of days in perspective; Roche says he feels certain his injury has been fully dealt with.
“It took six weeks for my knee to recover. Luckily I didn’t
suffer anymore once I was back on the bike. I was just very careful in my daily
routine.”
Today’s final stage at Tour du Haut-Var up Mont Faron
will prove a stern test for the riders. Whatever the result; Roche is clearly
rested, motivated and in good shape for the season ahead.
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