Late crash derails Nicolas Roche’s chances of higher result at Tour du Haut Var

Nicolas Roche was hoping for more than 11^th overall but his bid was derailed by some bad luck

By Graham Healy

Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) continued his solid start to the season as he finished in 11th place overall at the Tour du Haut Var today, Sunday. He had started the second stage hopeful of a win after finishing in 8^th place on the first stage in France.

Unfortunately for Roche, however, the bunch didn't catch five escapees and it was this group that were to fight for the overall win after the 207km stage into Draguignan.

Roche's team mates Johnny Cantwell and Michael Rogers made it into an early breakaway, but then the team weren't represented when the winning counter attack went.

The quintet that held off the bunch consisted of Lars Boom (Blanco), Arthur Vichot (FDJ), Daniel Oss (BMC), Laurens Ten Dam (Blanco) and Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ). Despite a concerted effort from the bunch – led by Roche's team for much of the time - they couldn't close the gap, and Boom took the stage ahead of Vichot, whose second place on the day brought him overall victory.

Race leader this morning, Thor Hushovd (BMC) led the bunch home, 14 seconds later, with Roche finishing in 14th place, on the same time as Hushovd. That left him in 11th overall.

Roche's director Dan Frost said it was a disappointing day.

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"We experienced one of those days where we were always just one step behind everyone else. Johnny and Michael went away first but of course we should have had a rider up there in the counter-attack. Instead, we had to sit in front of the bunch for about 120 kilometres and we lost a few riders on that account."

"When we entered the finish line, someone crashed in front of Nico and ruined an otherwise decent result. That's what happens sometimes."

With Roche equal on time with so many riders, even finishing a couple of places higher than his eventual 14^th on the stage would have moved him well inside the top 10 overall.

Roche and his team mates will now take a break from racing, as they take part in a training camp in Corsica, before competing again in Paris-Nice and Tirreno Adriatico.

Stage 2: Draguignan – Draguignan 207km

General Classification