Ag2r La Mondiale team leader, Nicolas Roche has revealed his heart is still set on targeting the general classification in the Tour de France and believes he could achieve a top five result in the race.
While acknowledging he has known from the beginning of his career that winning the race outright would not be possible for him, he says getting as high as he can in general classification is still the main goal of his career.
He also believes he is getting close to the top of what he can achieve.
“I don’t know what that means in terms of performance but if I can finish my career with a top five in the Tour I would be happy. It’s a massive step to get into the top five but if I can get my training and everything right it may be achievable.”
“Winning it? I don’t think so….. I think I’ve known (that) from the start.”
The 27-year-old was speaking to journalist Paul Kimmage in a major interview in yesterday’s Sunday Times newspaper.
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When asked about the doping culture in cycling in recent decades, Roche said when his then Cofidis team leader David Millar was caught and banned, he still was not fully aware of the seriousness of the problem in the peloton.
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He also found Millar’s complaints about the doping culture the Briton had been part of, difficult to understand.
“There were a lot of things I wasn’t aware of. I knew there had been a big doping problem with some of the riders, and that there were other issues apart from doping issues. One of my comments at the time was: ‘Millar cheated, he was caught. Why does he complain?’ I thought ‘Well the guys who are left on the team are the guys who are not in trouble’.”
When pressed by Kimmage for his views on the Lance Armstrong case, Roche said he believed some people were not convinced by Arnstrong’s defence of recent allegations, before adding:
“I don’t understand the Armstrong case. Okay there are a lot of things coming out against him….. But if the authorities had the correct proof, it would be out and proven and done.”
He also commented on Kimmage’s long held interest in the Armstrong case, saying: “To be honest, it’s the least of my hassles to know if Armstrong doped in 1999. I would prefer if you concentrated on who was doping in 2011 – that’s what makes me angry. I would prefer if you put the same effort you are putting into Armstrong into what is going on today – that would be my selfish answer.”
While he hoped to continue his cycling career for as long as possible and still had many goals, he had already begun to think about what he would do when his racing days came to an end.
“I would love to have a house and restaurant in Tuscany; a nice house on top of a hill in Arezzo or Siena. It will have a restaurant inside. I’m thinking about L’Olivo as a name.”
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