Nicolas Roche first Irish rider in 20 years to stand on Tour de France podium in Paris

Nicolas Roche (last rider on right) and his Saxo Tinkoff squad after winnin the team prize at the Tour de France. He was the first Irish rider to stand on the podium in Paris since 1993.

By Gavin McLoughlin

Ireland’s Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche concluded their fine Tours de Franceas the race came to an end on the streets of the Champs Elysées this evening, Sunday.

Martin magnificently ended Ireland’s 21 year wait for a Tour de France stage victory on an epic ninth stage of the race.

The Garmin-Sharp leader managed to outsprint Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) after the duo went clear on the final climb of the day and heroically held off the chasing hordes on a 30 kilometre descent to the finish line in Bagnères-de-Bigorre.

It was the first Irish Tour stage win since Martin’s uncle Stephen Roche won stage 16 of the 1992 Tour at La Bourboule.

The Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner looked well set to take a place in the top ten on general classification, but faded in the final days after being struck by illness. He ultimately finished in 33^rd overall, 1:13:08 behind race winner Chris Froome.

Now, Martin’s challenge will be to continue to develop as a three week rider in the hope of mounting a robust general classification challenge at a Grand Tour.

Some 25 years ago, Seán Kelly won the Vuelta a España, but in the long years since 1988 Ireland is without an overall victor at a three week race.

With the Tour stage win drought now at an end, let’s hope Martin can snap that 25 year wait next.

Nicolas Roche has been the ultimate teammate at this Tour, a powerful and utterly selfless domestique. Though the general classification challenge of Saxo-Tinkoff leader Alberto Contador ended in abject disappointment, the squad can derive some solace from their triumph in the team classification.

Alongside his teammates this evening, Roche collected that prize as the first Irishman to stand on the podium in Paris since his father’s Carrera team won the same competition in 1993.

At this Tour, the Saxo-Tinkoff rider’s best work came on stage 19, when he seemed to spend half the day leading the peloton across unspeakably gruelling Alpine terrain. In the nail-biting team time-trial that was stage 4, he came within 10 seconds of taking the yellow jersey.

On stage 16, Roche was part of a breakaway that produced the eventual stage winner, and he also displayed encouraging signs of improvement in his individual time-trialling on stage 11.

The Irishman performed strongly on the flats and the descents throughout this Tour, but his climbing was not of the standard it has been in previous years. However, his onerous team duties will have played a large part in that.

Contador will not take to the start at next month’s Vuelta a España, so Roche will be a candidate for the Saxo-Tinkoff general classification leadership at that event. Perhaps he can be the one to take that hungrily-awaited fourth Irish Grand Tour win, adding the Vuelta to the family collection alongside his father’s Giro-Tour double of 1987.

Today’s final stage was a 134 kilometre ride from Versailles to the Champs Elysées. Before the peloton arrived on the Parisian streets, race winner Chris Froome(Sky) posed for the cameras with a flute of champagne in his hand.

David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM) were the exceedingly optimistic men who launched a hopeful breakaway attempt on the early circuits of the Champs, but this was always going to be one for the sprinters.

Millar was stronger than Flecha and for a long time the Scot was out front on his own, though eventually he was re-absorbed by the peloton. Nowa trio of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Bram Tankink (Belkin Pro Cycling) and Manuel Quinziato (BMC) were clear, but they too were inevitably hauled back.

Roche briefly took yet another pull on the front as the peloton whizzed around the final circuit. Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) received the best lead-out of the fast men, and when they finally came to blows the powerful German was able to hold off André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

It was Kittel’s fourth stage win of the Tour, and the first time Cavendish has been beaten on the Champs. The Manxman’s position as the undisputed king of the sprints looks to be in jeopardy.

It has been a superb Tour for Roche and Martin, and Irish cycling fans can look to the future with tremendous optimism. Huge congratulations to both from all at stickybottle.

Thanks for reading.

@gavmcloughlin