By Shane Stokes
Many didn’t know it at the time, and those who did were sworn to secrecy, but last Sunday’s Irish road race championships was the final competitive event of Nicolas Roche’s career.
The 37-year-old had originally planned announcing his decision the day before the race but, realising the attention that would cause on a day he wanted to savour on his own terms, he decided to hold off.
Roche began the race dreaming of one final Irish championship title, to add to his previous wins; and on the roads of Co Wicklow, where he first began cycling as a boy
He won his first elite title in 2007, claiming the TT
gold in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, ahead of David McCann and David O’Loughlin.
Roche took his first road race crown two years later in Dunboyne, Co Meath,
from O’Loughlin and Paidi O’Brien.
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In 2016 he did the double in Kilcullen, Co Kildare; winning the TT ahead of Eddie Dunbar and Ryan Mullen and topping a road race podium that included Matt Brammeier in 2nd and Michael O’Loughlin in 3rd.
Since that last win, Roche has taken silver four times at the nationals, including last week’s TT; an event won by Ryan Mullen.
For much of the first half of last Sunday’s road race he
appeared to be on track to compete for the gold once more, and at the very
least take the silver.
“I wanted to make the decision quite early in the race,” he told stickybottle, speaking about his attack with Eddie Dunbar with 96 kilometres remaining.
“I think Eddie was keen for that too. “We rode pretty aggressively already on the first lap, and then there was a moment where I was like, ‘already, let's really make it hard,’ and then I went off with Eddie.
“We had a great (effort)…the two of us were really, really giving it socks. Unfortunately, Eddie came into a corner and the front wheel slipped. It was just one of those moments when the heavy showers were on.”
Dunbar hit the deck with 60 kilometres remaining, leaving Roche stranded out front with several strong riders chasing behind. That was a turning point in the race.
“From the moment when I saw Eddie crash, I was like, ‘okay, that's it.’ I think Eddie would have got me on the last lap on the climb, he seemed to be really, really in good shape. But there was a hope for one and two, or something.
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“But once he crashed out I just knew that was it. With the wind, there was no way I was going be able to go alone. And when the group from behind would catch me, I would also be struggling at that moment. It was already 50 or 70k that we were up the road. Anyway, it's a bike race…”
The victory eventually went to Ryan Mullen (Trek-Segafredo), who sat back early on and indeed came under difficulty on the early climbs. He bided his time and got stronger as the race went on, eventually attacking with Daire Feeley (All human-VeloRevolution) prior to the start of the final lap and staying clear until the final sprint, which he won.
With the benefit of hindsight, and considering the strong winds around the circuit, does Roche believe riding more conservatively early on was perhaps the best tactic?
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “With that amount of wind…I mean, the headwind made it hard. You could just see the advantage every time someone was isolated. It was very, very difficult for him to gain time."
Roche continued: “The wind was a big factor and yeah, I think maybe myself and Eddie were a little bit too hasty. But, on the other hand, I think the two of us, the way we were going, we could have made a real shot of it.
“But we can't redo a race; I think fair play to Ryan. He seemed really, really powerful when he caught me on the on the second last lap when I was that other group of two. So I was very happy for him to get to the dual champions jersey.”
Once he knew the victory was gone, Roche rode in the road for sixth, using the final kilometres to soak up the emotions of his final race and to reflect upon his career.
“When the guys started attacking, I was like, ‘alright, I think this time I just want to get to the line. To just enjoy the last kilometres, and that's it.’”
Roche was emotional at the finish but, to those who weren’t aware he was planning to retire, it would have been easy to miss it behind the shades. It’s a huge change for him; he has been a cyclist for over two decades, a pro bike rider for 17 years.
He’d have loved to have won his final race but, regardless of the bad luck which ruled out Dunbar and frustrated what was potentially a winning move, he enjoyed the experience.
He’s always loved racing in Ireland and said this was again the case. “It was brilliant, brilliant as always. It was great. I had a lot of family and friends that came over. Also friends from abroad.
“They said, ‘we want to go to Ireland, let’s go for the weekend.’ [His brother] Alexi was like, ‘ah, I am also going to come.’ He hasn’t raced in two years, but he just wanted to come for the fun.
“We got a bike from a bike shop in Dublin, which was really cool. Aidan Duff sorted that out for me, and we said, ‘alright, let’s go for it, let’s have a bit of craic…’”
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