Nicolas Roche
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Nicolas Roche |
| Date of birth | July 3, 1984 |
| Country |  Ireland |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 70 kg (150 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Crédit Agricole |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Amateur team(s) | |
2004 |
Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club OCC Antibes OCCV Draguignan SC Nice VC La Pomme Marseille Cofidis (stagiaire) |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2004–2006 2007– |
Cofidis Crédit Agricole |
| Major wins | |
| Irish National Time-Trial Champion (2007) |
|
| Infobox last updated on: | |
| May 15, 2008 | |
Nicolas Roche (born July 3, 1984 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France) is an Irish professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for Credit Agricole. Nicolas turned professional at the end of the year 2004, and became one of the youngest Pro-Tour racer at the time.[1] After turning professional, Roche was told by French administrative officials that he would have to choose between nationalities. As his father is Irish and his mother is French, Roche had dual nationality and as an amateur had raced with this dual nationality. In March 2005, Roche declared for France as he said he wished to live in France.[2] The loss of Roche was seen as a big blow to the Irish cycling community.[3] However several months later after Roche was informed by several cycling institutions such as the UCI and Cycling Ireland, Roche was able to redeclare for Ireland and to keep his dual-nationality.[4]
During his first two years and because of his young age, he often had the role of a domestique, but he did manage to get a few good results, mostly in French Road Cycling Cup races. His first win as a professional racer was a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir.[5][6] He wore the yellow jersey for 2 days, and finished 10th overall.
Nicolas played an important role in the World Cycling Championships 2006 in Salzburg, Austria. He was part of the major breakaway of the race and mixed with cycling's elite in this breakaway and represented Ireland with distinction.[7] Soon after, he signed a two-year contract with Crédit Agricole on the back of his many good results this season.
In 2007, Nicolas recorded several good results in the month of April and was selected for his first Grand Tour, completing the Giro d'Italia. In June, he won his first Elite national title, winning gold in the time trial championships, in Dungarvan [8] and came fourth in the road race championships. Due to injury, Nicholas was forced to withdraw from one of his big focus of the season, the Tour of Ireland, and missed the UCI World Championships.
Roche had planned his early 2008 season towards the Giro d'Italia, but could not compete as races organizers RCS decided not to invite his team Crédit Agricole to its races. This decision allowed him to discover new races: he finished 6th in the Tour Ivoirien de la Paix, 15th in Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas in Spain and won a stage [9] in GP Internacional Paredes Rota dos Móveis in Portugal. Nicholas also showed good improvements in sprints and could be selected for the Tour de France to help sprinter Thor Hushovd.
He is the son of former champion Stephen Roche & was educated at Blackrock College, a prestigious private school in Dublin.
Contents |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] Major results
- 2004 – VC La Pomme Marseille
- 3rd, Irish National Road Race Championships (CN)
- 2004 – Cofidis
- 10th, Grand Prix d'Isbergues (1.2)
- 2005 – Cofidis
- 4th, Tour de Vendée (1.1)
- 6th, Tour du Finistère (1.1)
- 2006 – Cofidis
- 10th, Overall, Tour de l'Avenir (2.1)
- 1st, Stage 4
- 4th, Irish National Road Race Championships (CN)
- 4th, Overall, Paris-Corrèze (2.1)
- 8th, Polynormande (1.1)
- 10th, Paris-Camembert (1.1)
- 2007 – Crédit Agricole
- 1st, Irish National Elite Time Trial Championships (CN)
- 4th, Irish National Road Race Championships (CN)
- 5th, Polynormande (1.1)
- 6th, Grand Prix de Denain (1.1)
- 9th, Paris-Camembert (1.1)
- 9th, Tro-Bro Léon (1.1)
- 13th, Tour du Finistère (1.1)
- 2008 – Crédit Agricole
- 1st, Stage 1, GP Internacional Paredes Rota dos Móveis (2.1)
- 6th, Rund um den Henninger-Turm (1.HC)
- 6th, Overall, Tour Ivoirien de la Paix (2.1)
- 8th, Paris-Camembert (1.1)
- 15th, Overall, Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas (2.1)
- 2nd, Stage 3
[edit] Giro d'Italia record
- 2007: 123rd
[edit] References
- ^ Roche makes it official. IrishCycling.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ Reluctant Roche declares for France. CyclingNews.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- ^ Mixed start to season after Roche’s shock defection. IrishAbroad.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- ^ Roche redeclares for Ireland. CyclingNews.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-06.
- ^ 2006 Tour de l'Avenir Stage 4 results. CyclingNews.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ 2006 Tour de l'Avenir Stage 4 description. LeTour.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Bettini wins world championships, Roche impresses with aggressive move. CyclingNews.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ Roche wins Irish time trial championships. IrishCycling.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Win for Roche in Portugal. IrishCycling.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
[edit] External links
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Roche, Nicolas |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Road bicycle racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1984-07-03 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
