Roche looks to have secured continued top flight status for Ag2r

(Photo: Sonoko Tanaka)

The good performances by Nicolas Roche and joint team leader Jean Christophe Peraud in the Tour of Beijing, with one stage still remaining, may prove just about enough to keep their Ag2r squad in the top flight next year.

Peraud has held his seventh place on GC after today’s penultimate stage and should maintain that after tomorrow’s final short circuit race around Beijing.

Meanwhile, Roche’s stage win yesterday will add to the UCI ranking points that Peraud’s GC performance will bring. The combined total should be just about enough to maintain the team’s World Tour status for next season.

Roche has revealed that while he should have been in Dublin this week to promote his new book ‘Inside the Peloton’, his team’s end of season hunt for UCI ranking points had become so crucial that they insisted he travel to race in Beijing.

It’s a plan that has paid off handsomely for Roche, picking up his first victory since 2008 and his first ever in a World Tour race.

Roche finished in 87^th place on today’s stage while Philip Deignan, who was second to Roche yesterday, rolled home in 70^th place. Both were in the peloton and were credited with the same time as bunch sprint winner Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale).

Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) maintains his lead on GC and barring accident on tomorrow’s final stage, of twelve 8km circuits around Olympic Park, he will wrap up the overall win. He has led the race from the opening time trial stage on Wednesday.

While Roche and Peraud have both done well to grab points this week - with just the Tour of Lombardy left this season to add further to the team’s tally - they will have to wait for a while before their top flight status for 2012 is confirmed, if indeed it is confirmed.

There are currently 18 teams in the World Tour. These secure a place in that top division on the basis of the UCI ranking points scored by the riders on their roster.

Ag2r is currently last of those 18 teams in the official UCI rankings. However, it has 342 points, just 27 below Vacansoleil and 29 points behind Quickstep.

Ag2r manager Vincent Lavenu said before the Tour of Beijing that he believed the transfer of strong riders to other teams just above and below Ag2r in the rankings, meant his team could be as low as 20th, just outside the top flight.

If he was right it would have meant Ag2r La Mondiale’s demotion to Professional Continental status.

However, the points gained by Ag2r in Beijing will help their situation, though it will not be until all team rosters for next year are finalised that the teams with most ranking points will clearly emerge. There remains a nervous period ahead for Roche and his colleagues.