While time trialling may not be the strongest part of his game, Nicolas Roche limited his losses quite well in the individual test on stage 11 of the Vuelta today, Wednesday, to keep his GC hopes alive with the race now at its halfway point.
The Irishman, riding his last Grand Tour for Ag2r La Mondiale, won’t exactly be cracking open the champagne tonight after his 21st place on today’s 39.4km individual TT from Cambados to Pontevedra. However, he still finds himself in 7th overall now 3:39 off the overall lead.
He has consistently said he expects the top four places on the final GC to go to Chris Froome (Team Sky), Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank), Jaoquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and that the race among the other near 200 riders in the field is effectively for fifth.
Advertisement
While Roche surrendered over two minutes today to stage winner – Swedish rider Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) – he limited his losses well in the race for fifth.
Contador was second on the stage, just 17 seconds down on the winner. Froome was third, 39 seconds down, and Valverde was fourth 1:08 adrift. Race leader and last man off, Rodriguez could only manage 7th and relinquished 1:16.
And while one has to scan another 14 places down the stage standings for Roche’s name in 21st place, he only lost 2:21 on the day in almost 55 minutes of racing.
That result is perhaps better than it looks at first glance.
It means he lost far less than one minute to the vast majority of those riders he expects to do battle with in the remaining week-and-a-half before the top of the GC is settled.
Related News
And on the basis of his climbing and aggression thus far – not to mention holding his own today – he looks like a certainty for a top ten on the final GC and perhaps even a top five placing if he avoids crashes and is blessed with a bit of luck.
The only two riders between Roche and the big four GC favourites are Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and Daniel Moreno (Katusha).
While Dutchman Gesink has looked strong and is a gifted climber, he is very prone to suffering Grand Tour bad days and losing time. And while Moreno is another great rider, he finds himself riding in a support role for team mate Rodriguez, who still holds the leader’s jersey today from Contador, albeit now by just one second.
Tomorrow’s stage is 184.6km and is flat until the really steep 1.8km ramp at the finish in Mirador de Ézaro which looks guaranteed to blow the field apart, with vital seconds to be won and lost in the surge up that climb.
Result: Stage 11: Cambados - Pontevedra (ITT) 39.4km
1 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team 0:52:36
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank 0:00:17
3 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:39
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:08
5 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:09
6 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:01:15
7 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 0:01:16
8 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica - GreenEdge 0:01:17
9 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin - Sharp 0:01:24
10 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:34
11 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:01:39
12 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:42
13 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:01:50
14 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01:57
15 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team 0:02:02
16 Tiago Machado (Por) Radioshack-Nissan 0:02:04
17 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:05
18 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:02:06
19 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling 0:02:16
20 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:02:20
21 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:21
22 Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:23
23 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:24
24 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:34
25 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:02:37
General Classification
1 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 40:26:15
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank 0:00:01
3 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:16
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:59
5 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:02:27
6 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team 0:02:54
7 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:39
8 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin - Sharp 0:04:08
9 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:04:22
10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:05:10
11 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:05:29
12 Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre - ISD 0:05:31
13 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:05:52
14 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan 0:05:56
15 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team
16 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
17 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:16
18 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre - ISD 0:06:25
19 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:07:00
20 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:07:10
21 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:07:25
22 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:06
23 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:08:38
24 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:09:22
25 Marcos Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural 0:09:33
Topics
