Roche put in a decent ride today in the short TT effort in Lugano
Fresh from receiving confirmation in recent days that he has been selected to represent Ireland at the London Olympics, Nicolas Roche has begun the Tour de Suisse with a good ride in the prologue TT.
The Ag2r man, who is not a TT specialist, finished 25th in the short 7.3km test in Lugano today, Saturday.
The stage was won by Slovak Peter Sagan (Liquigas Cannondale), who clocked a time of 9:43, some four seconds ahead of the home star Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan). Moreno Moser (Liquigas Cannondale) was third, a further three seconds back.
Roche posted a time of 10:14, some 31 seconds down on the flying Sagan in what was a pretty decent ride by the Irishman.
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He is looking to use the race to fine tune his form ahead of the Tour de France in just three weeks time. The Tour de Suisse will be ideal preparation, with eight hard stages ahead of the riders before it concludes tomorrow week.
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Tomorrow’s opening road stage takes the riders some 218km from Verbania to Verbier. There is no gentle opening stage for the sprinters, with tomorrow taking in two hors cat climbs; the Simplonpass at 87.8km and the main climb of the day up to the summit finish at Verbier.
Prologue TT 7.3km, Lugano
1 Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 09:43
2 Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) @4 secs
3 Moreno Moser (Liquigas-Cannondale) @7
4 Martin Elmiger (AG2R La Mondiale) @11
5 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Pro Team Astana) @15
6 Michael Albasini (Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team) @17
7 Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma – QuickStep) @18
8 Roman Kreuziger (Pro Team Astana) @19
9 Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank Cycling Team) @20
10 Jakob Fuglsang (RadioShack-Nissan) @22
25) Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) @31
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