Nicolas Roche's family - on his mother's side - go back over a century in the town where Paris-Nice started at the weekend. And they welcomed him back like a long lost son, as he told stickybottle.
By Brian Canty
Nicolas Roche has said he was humbled by the kind gesture shown by the people of Conflans before Sunday’s opening stage of Paris Nice.
The Irishman has a strong affinity with the French town as he was born there and his mother’s family have roots there going back generations.
The Mayor marked the day by giving him an official welcome and Roche’s grandmother got to ride in the cavalcade.
“I never lived there but my mother’s side’s family (the Guidicis from Bergamo) – more specifically my grandmother’s family - has been living there since 1913,” he explained.
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“So it’s a place that goes back over 100 years ago for us. My grandparents had a shop in Conflans for 25 years.
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“So on Sunday, the Mayor of the town had asked if I could do a lap of the time-trial circuit in the morning with him.
“Afterwards, he officially presented me with a prize - a painting of the town’s iconic river and boat. It was deeply humbling.”
Roche lived in France from 1991 to 1996 and started cross-country running in Conflans though he hasn’t been back there for 20 years.
“I think the happiest person in the whole country was my French granny who got a lot of attention and got her first experience of riding shotgun in a following car, thanks to the Mayor!
“It made her day and in France it was Granny’s day – not Mother’s Day like in most countries.”
Roche was given a great reception by the Mayor, the locals and the top brass from ASO; nice touch by all!
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