Alexis Roche may be based in Antibes in the south of France but the talented youngster is set to play a big role in the Nicolas Roche Performance Team in 2015.
By Brian Canty
The newly relaunched Nicolas Roche Performance Team has been boosted significantly for the coming season with the news that first year junior Alexis Roche will ride for it.
The 16 year-old is a younger brother of top Irish WorldTour professional Nicolas and son of Tour de France winner Stephen.
He will don the colours of the team in a number of races this year.
The Irish outfit's full programme of races has yet to be set in stone but it will target the biggest events on Irish soil, with some foreign racing included.
Alexis Roche has already ridden in France as a youth and now moving into his junior years he is set to become involved with his brother's development team. It has been helping young riders for the past couple of seasons (Photo: CyclingPics Freddy)
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Team principal Philip Finnegan is currently in Nice in the south of France meeting with the Roches and said teenager Alexis is very much part of the plan for 2015.
“Alexis will be one of three French riders we’ll have in the team for the coming season,” explained Finnegan.
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“He’s very good, though he’s still very young. He’s maybe not got as much experience as the other two French guys in the team.
"But the whole idea of getting someone in as a first year junior is to give them experience and allow them progress in the second year.”
The other two French riders are Johan Delalaire who won 28 races last year and Clement Suir.
Michael O'Loughlin has been one of the very best riders to appear in the colours of the Nicolas Roche Performance team but has by no means been the only star. Fintan Ryan won the national road crown with the squad in 2013, Mark Downey took the time trial title last year and David McCarthy has since progressed to the Continental team JLT Condor, to name but three of the squad's very promising young riders (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Both are on the French national team and both approached Finnegan last year about potential vacancies in the squad for 2015.
Finnegan explained the team would race a three-day event in Belgium at Easter followed by another two-day soon afterwards.
The squad will then take part in a Nations Cup event at the end of May and Finnegan said those events would lead into “six or seven more trips later on in the year”.
“I think with the preparation we’ll have that by the time we get to the Junior Tour we’ll have an extremely strong team,” surmised Finnegan.
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