Nicolas Roche pushes the pace in the escape today. With Contador out, he says he is now focused on trying for a stage win.
After an attacking ride today that saw him pull clear in a breakaway before jumping it in the closing stages of the Tour de France, Nicolas Roche has vowed to try again.
His Tinkoff-Saxo team has been forced to completely rework its plans for the remaining 10 stages of the race following the departure of leader Alberto Contador who suffered a leg fracture during a crash on Monday.
The squad’s top goal now is stage wins. And having won a stage, the overall and points classification in the recent Route du Sud, been aggressive in the Giro and taken a stage in the Vuelta last year, Roche will be central to those aims.
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"It wasn't the plan for me to attack so far out," admitted Roche of his first move today with 50km remaining and just as the climbing started on stage 11.
"I was thinking of attacking on the last climb or the second last one but I saw the opportunity. I thought at that stage the group was kind of worn down.
“There weren't many teammates belonging to the sprinters there and I thought they might give me a minute so I just chanced it."
Roche forced his way to the head of the race and as the escape he was in was being hunted down, he attacked the leaders on his own in a bid for victory with some 25km remaining.
While hopeful other riders might come across and work with him, the hunt for the stage win was on behind.
The motorbike that is Tony Martin was giving his all for team mate Matteo Trentin, who has already claimed a stage here and ended up third today.
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Roche with his most aggressive rider award on today's stage 11. He's hoping to be back on the podium before the race rolls into Paris on Sunday week.
"It was already an objective of today to win a stage. I gave it a good shot but not enough,” said Roche, who at least won the combativity award today, which earned him a trip to the podium.
"When I saw Tony Martin fly past me with about 25km to go I tried to hang onto that group but I had given it everything on the last climb.
“When I attacked I definitely had Alberto in my thoughts. We are very proud of him and we were so dedicated in our efforts to support him.
"Now we must focus on setting new goals and we wanted to start straight away today. No point in waiting if you see a good opportunity... we’re all capable of going for a stage win."
Although he took some valuable points towards the king of the mountains competition while out front today – cresting the final cat 3 climb first and the second ascent in second place - Roche admits he is unlikely to challenge for the polka-dot jersey over the rest of the Tour.
He will instead focus on trying to win a stage.
"I think I'm too far down the points and (Joaquin) Rodriguez is going to be a tough one to beat on the mountains so I'll leave that one to him.
“But I'll give it another go. There are still 10 stages left so there is still a lot to be done, from the team and myself."
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