Nicolas Roche said the change of pace and the attacks of
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) cost him his place in the lead group and the
Vuelta leader’s jersey on the final climb of stage 5 today.
A three-man breakaway survived up the road for the top three
placings, with the general classification me fighting for time behind the
leaders.
Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) was strongest of the favourites,
followed by Valverde and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma).
Roche finished in 14th place on the stage, some 2:17 down
on winner Ángel Madrazo (Burgos-BH)
and 1:20 down on new race leader Lopez.
Asked how he felt when Valverde started to attack Roche
said: “I almost smiled when he went attacking.
“I could see everyone on their limit and the next thing I
saw him shoot on the right and I thought ‘oh no, here we go.
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“I kind of knew that moment was arriving, I hoped it was
going to be a little bit further up the climb.
“That pace at that moment was not the perfect pace for
me, but it was one I could have held for a bit longer.
“But then that change
of rhythm really killed me. It’s not really the kind of climb that I like; a
lot of changes of rhythm with the steeper bits, the flatter bits, the corners.
“And then with EF Education putting the hammer down and
then slowing down again, it was really tough.
“I just kind of tried to ride my own pace all the way up and limit my losses.”
And while he is no longer leading the race, Roche is
still very much in the general classification hunt and believed he could ride
for a result.
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“Yeah, hopefully I think I did a decent climb today. I
don’t know where I was; 10th or 12th, something like that.
“I think over three weeks if I keep fighting in that
position and climbing in that position, hopefully I can be in the top ten which
would be nice for me.”
The Irish rider
added he was delighted to lead the race for three days, having done so for one
stage six years ago.
“It was a great experience to be in red. Last time I had
it I only held it for one day,” he added of 2013, when he also won a stage.
“The team did a great job to support me and we worked
well together on this stage. I’m in good condition and I rode a good climb
today.
“I knew it would be difficult to defend the jersey today,
and when the attacks came, I decided to go at my own pace and limit the
losses.”
“I am feeling good. Maybe I can keep riding at this pace,
I can think about finishing in the top 10.
“The problem with that is if you’re close on GC no one
will let you get into a breakaway. We’ll see how these next mountain stages
go.”
Team Sunweb coach
Luke Roberts said he was happy with how Roche and Wilco Kelderman had ridden.
“Just three riders went away in the breakaway who were
not dangerous for the GC, which made the beginning of the stage quite easy to control,” he said of the early breakaway, which
won the day.
“UAE contributed
a little bit to the chase but our guys had to work most of the day, and then
they set Nico and Wilco up for the final climb.
“Both rode a solid final climb, perhaps we hoped for a
little bit more, but in the end it was still quite a good performance, with
Nico now fifth and Wilco tenth overall.”
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