Is there any chance, however small, of Roche emulating his father and actually winning Le Tour? Or even the Giro?
No chance, can’t climb well enough.
So he’d be more like Sean Kelly than his aul fella as a cyclist with a World Championship probably the biggest he could win? Kelly won the Tour of Spain too I think didn’t he?
Kelly and Roche Snr would be before my time really Gola, but to win a Grand Tour you need to be an exceptional climber (Schleck, Contador), rather then just a good one. He isn’t the greatest time triallist either - a cyclist who can win stages but not challenge overall.
Agree he is not at his old mans level at the moment. Stephen was winning the tour age 27 and was winning mountain stages in 1985. Good rider though.
Martin is the better climber and would seem a more likely grand tour winner but he needs to get a lot more experience of the big races first obviously.
Roche is having an interesting tour. It doesn’t really suit his style to aim for an overall GC finish - he’s too attack minded for that. And his climbing just isn’t top notch so it means he’s really just riding to limit time on mountains and gain it elsewhere. He’s doing that very well but I’d imagine it’s a small bit frustrating for him given his stage winning ambitions. That’s the price you pay for having everyone get water for you all day though.
I used to follow cycling a lot back in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Roche was an exceptional rider to his credit; he won the Giro in '87 with only one, possibly 2 of the Carrera team on his side which is no mean feat. Roche was an excellent time trialist, good in the mountains and if only to give one example which I think is all we can (open for correction) able to win one off races ie. the World Championships in 87 also.
Just getting back into the cycling and this years Tour, it seems that everyone is working off of a level playing pitch so it is exciting. I reckon Roche Jnr will only be a stronger rider after this years Tour, his aim I think was to finish in the top 15 and he had a strong day yesterday so fingers crossed he can go on. He’s young enough to be a leader of a team too, how strong is the Ag4r* team?
*without googling it, think that’s the name of the team N Roche is in.
Ag2R I believe. Not that strong Turenne but I think it’s fair to say he’s doing very well to be leading any team in the Tour.
Always thought his father was on the shadows of Kelly which was odd. Even After his injuries he came back to win a mountain top stage in the fog in 93 or so. Some climber for a guy who trained in Howth and Wicklow.
Nic’s on a shite team, one of the worst in the tour.
At the same time, considering the form of a lot of the stronger cyclists like Armstrong (who managed to lose a minute and a half yesterday :lol: ), Kreuziger, Sastre, Evans etc, Roche can steal a top ten finish. Which would be incredible for a cyclist who isn’t a TT or mountains specialist and who is on such a weak team. He is just very combatative and strong really.
Martin is the superior climber and more likely to win a grand tour, but seems injury prone. If I was to be very cynical I’d say he has a suspicious habit of getting particular injuries just before the Tour De France.
Sounds like Roche Snr and Jnr are almost polar opposites really.
Renshaw thrown off tour for headbutting.
Roche snr was pure class. won Paris-Nice in 81 in his first year as a pro. Rode the tour a lot when quite young with Peugeot and learned the ropes. Very smart, the attack yday was pure Stephen Roche. Was funny reading Nic’s Indo article about the rest day this week. Nic went off training on his own before the team went cos he reckoned they weren’t doing enough. I know lads from home who were on junior Irish teams with Stephen and he used to do the same.
You could see Nic winning a race like Liege-Bastogne-Liege or one wek stage races. Don’t think he has the pure class for a grand tour though. But he has a few years yet. Maybe the Vuelta.
Yeah he was obvious class, just doesn’t seem to get the recognition in this country that Kelly gets which is odd given his higher profile successes.
He was talking about Nic’s attack yesterday - they’d discussed it before the start of the stage and while Roche Snr didn’t think it was on after the way the stage developed he was chuffed with the outcome. It’s that ability to grab time like that which is one of Roche’s biggest strenghts.
I wouldn’t rule him out of a Grand Tour completely either. He’s not in the class of Schleck or Contador and while he will improve he’s unlikely to improve that much. But he does have the ability to get into the next tier of riders. That second bracket where you get top 10 finishes, where you’re pushing for podium places and where you’re leading a decent team. He could be a Menchov or a Wiggins or someone like that. And with a bit of luck he could find himself winning a big one. But he’ll need luck.
Oh and Locke/Turenne - apologies got ye mixed up somehow above.
Is it because Kelly seems more likeable than Roche? At least he does to me anyway. Kimmage pushing the ‘Roche was on drugs’ line hard in the mid to late 90s probably didn’t do his public standing much good here either.
For me, the ultimate reason for preferring Kelly is the enjoyment I get out of a Carrick-on-Suir accent being broadcast throughout Europe saying ‘General Classement’.
Strange incident today. Cavendish’s teammate Renshaw has been kicked out of the Tour for this headbutt incident at the start of the sprint finish today.
The Tower of France wouldn’t be the Tower of France without Sean.
Contador gained 10 seconds on Schleck on the short climb at the very end of today’s stage.
Wouldn’t totally share the criticism of AG2r on here. Last year they held the jersey for a week or so and performed excellently in the team time trial. There seems to be an excellent spirit in the team. For example you’d think Nocentini might have a bit of a problem with all the effort for Roche given his performance last year yet he is willing to do his share for him. Some other good riders too. Gadret can climb and has assisted Roche crucially while Riblon has calibre. Last but by no means least they are an inherently clean time. Along with likes of Garmin there are precious few times where you could trust all riders on the team were clean.
Anyway Roche can be satisfied with his effort again today. He slips a place as Vino moves up but hopefully that effort has knackered Vino out today. All seems a bit pointless. Schleck didn’t look punchy enough but suppose climb like that is way more suited to Contador,
Nicky Roche has attacked here in a nice little group.
Wasted effort in the end.Hope he doesn’t pay for it tomorrow in the high mountains. Suppose if he doesn’t try he will never get a stage win.Frustrating for those of us who have backed him for gc…Annoying to see Vino win also.
Biggest day so far today.Quite like a giro stage actually with very tough mountains.Think Contador will win today.