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Nicolas Roche has recounted in his Irish Independent Tour Diary how medics tried to usher him towards the ambulance after his crash at the Tour de France on stage 10 yesterday.
Roche was absolutely battered after his crash but he firmly told the medics he would try and continue and insisted they let him get back on his bike.
He was allowed to do so and incredibly he got back into the bunch. While he later drifted away from the peloton, he finished less than 11 minutes down; a minor miracle considering the extent of his crash.
The 36-year-old Irish cyclist crashed in a large pile-up with 100km remaining on the stage to île de Ré - which was won by Ireland's Sam Bennett. Two riders appeared to rub a wheel and fall, causing a large number of others to crash.
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Roche and Saw Bewley (Mitchelton-Scott) took the brunt of it and while the Irishman was able to continue, Bewley was forced out of the race as he broke a bone on what was his first Tour.
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Nicolas Roche says when he fell the medics on the scene rushed to him and started to check him for concussion. He told them he hadn't hit his head and did not have concussion and then recounts in his diary in the Irish Independent what he told them:
"No, no, I don’t have concussion," I insisted. "I didn’t hit my head. It’s just from my arm, the bleeding." I pointed down at my blood covered arm.
"You have to get in the ambulance," she said. "It’s over."
"F**k no, it’s not over!" I answered. "I’ll finish the race and we’ll see tonight."
It took me a while to convince everyone to let me continue but there was no way I was going to abandon the Tour on the side of the road.
"If I can’t ride, I’ll stop," I said, "but I need to get back on the bike."
You can read that full diary - and it's well worth a full read - by following this link.
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