Nicolas Roche is currently in a training camp working towards the Vuelta a España. A close look at his past achievements in the race shows a fantastic record on every level; consistency, stage wins and classification leaders jerseys (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Nicolas Roche set to ride Vuelta a España
Nicolas Roche is set to ride the Vuelta a España and is currently in a training camp in Spain preparing.
It will be his second Grand Tour of the year. He rode the Tour de France last month bringing his Grand Tour career total to 17.
That was a new Irish record, eclipsing the 16 Grand Tours Sean Kelly started. Incredibly, Nicolas Roche has never withdrawn from a Grand Tour.
Roche has two Vuelta stage wins to his name, has held the leader's jersey and all the main classification jerseys in the event.
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He said he was looking forward to Vuelta a España 2017, which begins in 10 days.
“When you do two Grand Tours back to back, it’s always a case of finding the right balance,” he said.
“(It’s about) recovering from the first and keeping the intensity for the second.
“But I’ve done this particular double many times before. So I have a routine and it comes quite natural to me now."
Nicolas Roche winning his Vuelta a España stages in 2013 and 2015. And leading the race in 2013.
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Roche continued: “I only had two full days of rest after the Tour because I rode the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian the week after.
“It’s always a race that I look forward to and which I did quite well in this time, finishing 10th.
“After that, I had one more day of rest and then it was back into a normal training cycle to keep the pressure on all the way to the Vuelta.
“Right now I’m training in Navacerrada in Spain. And I’ll go almost directly from here to the start of the Vuelta.”
Roche went into the Tour de France all set to ride for BMC Racing team leader Richie Porte.
However, when the Australian crashed out at the start of the second week of racing, the team switched its focus to stage wins.
Roche was on the attack on several stages though missed out on a victory.
His best result was 4th, ironically on stage 8, the day before Porte crash out. He was also 6th on stage 15 and would finish 33rd overall.
While he has ridden very well in both the Tour and Vuelta down the years, his best record is at the Vuelta.
Nicolas Roche has won two stages in that race and also held the leader’s red jersey.
He was 2nd on stage 17 of the Vuelta in 2008; beaten in a sprint from the breakaway by Imanol Erviti (Caisse d'Epargne).
The following year he took six top 10 stage placings at the Tour. His best was 2nd on stage 14 when Serguei Ivanov (Katusha) won solo and Roche took the breakaway sprint.
He took six top 10 placings in the Vuelta in 2010 on his way to 6th overall. And he was 13th overall in the Tour that year.
He took four top 10 placings in the Vuelta in 2011 and three the following year when he was 12th overall; taking the same GC place in the Tour that season.
In 2013 he took 11 top 10 placings in the Vuelta, including his win on stage 2. He would also go on to finish 5th overall and held the leader’s jersey for a day.
In 2015 he took eight top 10 placings at the Vuelta, including victory on stage 18.
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