A photo has emerged of Nicolas Roche's massive chainring on the bike that carried him to victory in the National TT Championships. Above, Roche flies to gold, captured in this great shot by David Ryan.
A few days ago we brought you a story about domestic rider Eoin O'Connell's huge chainring that he's been using during his recent winning run of form.
But even O'Connell's 55 would look and feel a bit inadequate beside much bigger boy Nicolas Roche's TT bike chainring, which has no fewer than 58 teeth; that's right, 58.
The Team Sky man powered his way to victory in the 40km test in Kilcullen, Co Kildare, on Thursday evening to take the title over 40km.
He took his second elite TT gold - having been champion in 2007 - from Eddie Dunbar (Axeon Hagens Berman) and Ryan Mullen (Cannondale).
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Roche clocked a time of 47:14, in an average speed of 50.812km per hour.
That was 1:03 quicker than Dunbar and 1:25 faster than Mullen; they took gold and silver in the U23 contest.
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Mullen won the combined elite and U23 title race last year, with Dunbar 2nd on both.
Roche did not ride the TT or the road race last year, opting to skip them in favour of preparing for the Tour de France.
This year he has not been picked by Team Sky for the Tour and so is back in Ireland as a very popular entrant for these championships.
His ride - and gear selection - show he is looking in great form for Sunday's road race, which is lumpy enough to split the field. It should be a great race.
We're not sure yet what Roche had on the back wheel this evening, but we'll find out from him.
Now that's a chainring!
What you need to win a national ITT title @NatChamps2016 @nicholasroche with a 58 front ring @TeamSky #NatChamps2016 pic.twitter.com/PlZcnyOFOM
— Eoghan Connolly (@EoghanCon11) June 23, 2016
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