Ireland’s Nicolas Roche was one of several riders who gained time on today’s 13th stage of the Vuelta a España, infiltrating a large breakaway move which went clear inside the first 50 kilometres of the race to Ponferrada. The Ag2r la Mondiale rider had started the day eighteenth overall, three minutes 50 seconds back, and gained one minute 33 seconds on the main bunch. That moved Roche up to 14th and within a stone’s throw of the top ten, his pre-race target.
“This was a furious stage!” he said afterwards. “But most of all, it’s been a great bike race. There were two important breakaways and on both occasions, I was up there with my team-mates. In the second one, David Le Lay did a great job to maintain the rhythm but he paid for it at the end.”
Roche was recognised as one of the fastest finishers in the group but appeared to be a little too far back when the sprint opened. He couldn’t match stage winner Michael Albasini (HTC Highroad) and afterwards was a little rueful about a missed chance to improve on the second place he took on a stage in 2008.
Still, he recognised that he made some progress in the general classification. “I would have liked to make the top three of the stage and I’m only fifth. On GC, the benefit isn’t spectacular because the four riders I could have passed were also in the front group with me: Sørensen, Nieve and Seeldrayers, who have taken turns, and Moreno, who didn’t do a thing,” he said. “I’m now fourteenth, about twenty seconds down from the top ten on GC. The coming steep climbs will suit me but it’ll depend on how I recover from today.”
Speaking to VeloNation earlier in the race, Roche said that he was feeling strong on the tougher ascents. This was illustrated by his eight on the stage to Valdepeñas de Jaen and seventh to San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The longer, less steep climbs were where he has lost time, but he feels the likes of l’Angliru should suit him better.
Before then, he has another opportunity on tomorrow’s tough finish of La Farrapona. As he says, his chances will depend on how he recovers from today’s exertions.