Now aged 33 years and in his 15th year as a top flight pro; Nicolas Roche is looking strong. He feels his good form is a positive sign for the next challenges in the weeks ahead.
Nicolas Roche digs deep in Oman to build condition
Having finished 8th on the hardest stage of the Tour of Oman, Nicolas Roche says his form at present is better than 12 months ago.
The 33-year-old put in a very solid ride up the Green Mountain climb at the end of stage 5 in Oman yesterday.
When the last of the early breakaway was swept up, what was left of the peloton got even smaller as the climb continued.
With 3km remaining Astana trio Miguel Angel Lopez, Alexey Lustenko and Jan Hirt surged ahead with Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida).
Nicolas Roche sprang from the small chase group behind with 2km to go in an effort to bridge up to the leaders. However, Lopez and Lutsenko pressed on to claim a 1-2.
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As a result of going for broke, BMC's Roche was caught by some of those behind. He took 9th, some 47 seconds back.
His team mate Greg Van Avermaet had won stage 3 and taken the leader's jersey. And while he lost the race lead yesterday - to Lutsenko - Roche said the team had gone to Oman for a stage.
The Irish rider, who will target the Giro in May, was happy with his condition so early in the new campaign.
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“Today was a good day for me. I'm quite happy about finishing in the top ten," he said.
"This week was all about finding form and going deep. And when we came here, the GC wasn’t a priority. It was all about winning a stage with Greg.
"So the other day, I completely sacrificed my GC chances for him. And it worked out. Today, I had my chance on the stage. And I gave it all to go really deep ahead of the next races.
"I wasn’t expecting any more. I was hoping to be in the top ten or 15 places, so I am happy.
“The form is going better day after day. Dubai Tour was my first race. And I lacked a bit of rhythm there.
"This week has already been better. And I'm quite happy with how these past two weeks in the Middle East have gone.
"I'm definitely better than this time last year. I think that is a good sign for the upcoming months.”
⚡ STAGE 5 HIGHLIGHTS ⚡
From the breakaway battle until ?? @SupermanlopezN ’s victory on the climb of Jabal Al Akhdhar, the queen stage lived up to the expectations! Here’s the best of super intense day of racing on the roads of the Sultanate of Oman #TOO2018 @AstanaTeam pic.twitter.com/sX6uqFMO5O— Tour of Oman (@tourofoman) February 17, 2018
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