Nicolas Roche of Team Sky, on the far left of shot, crashed on the run-in to the finish of the opening stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol in Spain.
By Brian Canty
Nicolas Roche did not have the Team Sky debut he hoped for today when he crashed hard on the run-in to the finish of the opening stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol in Spain (2.1).
The Irishman came down in the first of two crashes that marred the end of the day’s 121-kilometre journey from La Rábida to Hinojos.
But he was able to pick himself up and complete the stage, albeit over four minutes down on winner Pim Lighart (Lotto-Soudal).
The spill came on what appeared to be a straightforward stretch of road.
Advertisement
But with a strong crosswind and a nervous peloton there was a touch of wheels towards the head of affairs, with Roche one of several to hit the deck.
Pim Lighart (Lotto-Soudal) wins the opening stage in Spain, as the field fragmented behind him.
His injuries were not serious and he was able to start – and finish – this evening’s 8.2k time-trial which formed part of the day’s split stage.
Related News
Roche’s job this week is to protect the interests of his team leader, Chris Froome; who managed to avoid today’s crashes.
Ligthart won this morning’s road stage when he finished two seconds clear of Fabio Silvestre (Trek Factory Racing), Grega Bole (CCC Sprandi) and a small group of chasers who managed to escape the second crash which occurred after the one Roche was caught up in.
This evening’s test against the clock was won by Javier Moreno (Movistar) in a time of 9:51.
Contador holds the race lead after the first road stage and the evening time trial in Spain.
Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) was two seconds back and Jerome Coppel (Cofidis) was third at four seconds.
Roche went a very solid 36 seconds slower than winner Moreno and he’ll hope to improve in the days ahead.
Alberto Contador clocked 9:57 – eight seconds faster than rival Froome – to take the leader’s red jersey.
Tomorrow’s stage takes the riders a whopping 194 kilometres from Ultrera to Lucena.
There is one categorised climb 10 kilometres from the finish but it’s pretty much climbing all day prior to that.
Topics
