Nicolas Roche demolishes his nearest challengers at the summit finish to win stage 2 of the Vuelta today.
By Gavin McLoughlin
Ireland’s Nicolas Roche took the biggest victory of his career in winning stage 2 of the Vuelta a Espana today, Sunday, in what is his 11th Grand Tour.
He also took the climbers classification jersey and is second overall, eight seconds behind Vincenzo Nibali (Astana).
With 400 metres left to the finish line atop the summit of the first-category Alto do Monte da Groba, the Irishman shrewdly darted away from the rest of a four-man group that went clear in the final 1.5 kilometres of the climb.
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Forced to sacrifice his personal ambitions in support of Alberto Contador at the Tour de France, it is a tremendous return to glory for the selfless Saxo-Tinkoff rider.
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Fresh off the back of Dan Martin’s triumph on stage 9 of the Tour, a tremendous year for Irish cycling continues.
Roche appears to have lost weight and was by far the strongest of the small select group that pulled clear in the attacking just before the finish today, demolishing those closest to him when the line came into view.
His ride today bodes very well for the rest of the race and with such a huge win under his belt so early in the three week event, Roche can hopefully relax and ride even better.
We'll have lots more in a while.
Stage 2: Pontevedra - Alto Do Monte Da Groba 176.8km
| 1 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 4:37:09 | |
| 2 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha | 0:00:02 | |
| 3 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:06 | |
| 4 | Leopold Konig (Cze) Team NetApp-Endura | 0:00:11 | |
| 5 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:12 | |
| 6 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida | ||
| 7 | Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha | ||
| 8 | Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | 0:00:14 | |
| 9 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | ||
| 10 | Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling |
