Nicolas Roche reflects on his move to BMC Racing, his continuing long season, the UCI’s plans to reform team sizes and his chances in China in the next few days (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Nicolas Roche on UCI plans to reduce team sizes
By Luke Maguire
Currently riding the Tour of Guangxi, Nicolas Roche has reflected on his first season at BMC Racing, saying he has settled in very well.
He has also run his eye over plans by the UCI to reduce team sizes, saying they make no sense.
The Irishman got into an early seven-man breakaway on today’s stage 2 of the first WorldTour race.
It contested the first intermediate sprint where Roche nicked a one second time bonus.
While the escape was recaptured and the race came down to a bunch sprint, Roche gain was useful; if small.
It lifts him just ahead of main general classification rivals. The race looks set to be decided on the stage 4 uphill finish on Sunday.
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And the Irishman was bullish about his chances when stickybottle caught up with him in Nanning after the stage.
"I tried a few little moves to get away early on to maybe go for the bonus seconds sprint,” he said.
“But it was really just to test the legs since my last race was 10 days ago in Lombardy.
“The legs are good. So when we got Dillier in the break the team just stayed around me to get me to the end.
“We knew it was going to be a tricky finish. The goal was to not lose time.”
Roche would place 19th on the stage on same time as winner and race leader Fernando Gaviria (QuickStep).
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He was clearly intent on not losing any time in splits on the finishing straight; another factor that suggests he believes he can have a say in the final standings.
“The overall in this race will be decided on stage 4,” he said.
“The final climb is going to be a 10 minute hard effort so it should suit me fairly well.
“In the Vuelta those sub ten-minute climbs in the first week were where I went best. They are a good length for me so I'll give it a shot again."
Reflecting on a very long season, which began for him on February 1st, Roche said his move to BMC Racing had proven a satisfying one.
“My integration into BMC this year has been good. I had a fairly slow start to the season because I was trying to peak in the second part. And I think that has gone well for me.
"I'm happy to be here. It's been a long season but after Lombardy the form was still there.
“And the team asked me to go and do one last race so I said why not.
“Cycling is still developing here in China. One local journalist just asked me what team I was riding for; so it shows there is still a long way to go for the sport here.
“It's a very long season and every team has trouble finding riders to ride these last races in October.
“At the same time we are talking about reducing team sizes and rider numbers which doesn't make much sense.
“But unfortunately us riders have no control over that. The off-season gets pretty short when you finish in the last week in October.
“So I'll take the first 10 days of November off and then slowly but surely start thinking of next year.
“I was in Ireland last week and I enjoyed doing the charity rides that I to do every year.
“The China race wasn't planned until a week ago so I had to cut it a bit short.
“But I came back to Ireland straight after Lombardy and it is always nice to get home to see the and friends and family.
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