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Nicolas Roche 2013

  • 21-11-2012 01:38PM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 799 ✭✭✭


    What are your predictions on Nicolas Roche next season?

    What role will he have with saxo-tinkoff and do you like me expect several Grand tour stage wins?

    Also in the spring classics will he have a shot?

    Does this spell the end for his (misguided IMO) GC contender aims?


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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,365 ✭✭✭Lusk Doyle


    Who knows, but according to MPFG his year will be full of resentment. Of that much we can be certain!

    :p


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 398 ✭✭Flandria


    A stage win in Tirreno-Adriatico which will boost his palmares to a mighty total of 6. It might even be enough to get another book deal;)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,606 ✭✭✭MPFG


    Lusk Doyle wrote: »
    Who knows, but according to MPFG his year will be full of resentment. Of that much we can be certain!

    :p


    I never said anyhing about his year being full of resentement ...I said body language shows lack of warmth and trust ...but it is early days...maybe they will be great mates after Roche has riden for Contador in a GT

    However Roche's 2013 season is going to be difficult because it looks like Saxo will not be pro tour accoirding to reports

    I hope he rides some one day classics as a leader to be honest


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,487 ✭✭✭TheBlaaMan


    SFA if Saxo Tinkoff dont get a World Tour spot.........


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,365 ✭✭✭Lusk Doyle


    MPFG wrote: »
    I never said anyhing about his year being full of resentement ...I said body language shows lack of warmth and trust ...but it is early days...maybe they will be great mates after Roche has riden for Contador in a GT

    However Roche's 2013 season is going to be difficult because it looks like Saxo will not be pro tour accoirding to reports

    I hope he rides some one day classics as a leader to be honest

    I was reading between the lines of what you had written and being slightly facetious.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 138 ✭✭CillianL


    Once Bjarne Riis ad Contador get him onto the juice he'll be flying, anything is better than plain pasta from Ag2r, so roll on Nico in yellow! :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,487 ✭✭✭TheBlaaMan


    CillianL wrote: »
    Once Bjarne Riis ad Contador get him onto the juice he'll be flying, :D

    Facepalm100000000.gif


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,561 ✭✭✭Eamonnator


    TheBlaaMan wrote: »
    SFA if Saxo Tinkoff dont get a World Tour spot.........

    And it doesn't look as if they will according to this

    http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/13334/Team-Saxo-Tinkoff-said-to-be-in-danger-of-losing-WorldTour-place.aspx


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,977 ✭✭✭wav1


    Just seen article on stickybottle.com re saxo training camp in Gran Canaria.Not a great choice ot tee shirt from Nico.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 799 ✭✭✭mistermatthew


    Eamonnator wrote: »

    If Saxo bank aren't involved in the major races I'll eat my hat and Berties dodgy steaks.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3 hayzer114


    While it is rumoured that Saxo-Tinkoff may missout on a world tour place to Argos -Shimano I think with the presence of Contador they will still make most of the major races next season. As for Roche I think this is the move he has always needed. If you look at his performances in both the Tour and the Vuelta they have been consistent if unspectacular. He is more than capable of holding his own for 16/17 stages with the top guys but when the likes of Contador/Schleck/Froome/Nibali/Rodriguez put the foot down on the high mountains he just cant go anymore. No shame in that. Take this years Vuelta, he went as AG2R 3rd choice on GC and still was their highest performer, I feel that the team failed to give him sufficient support at times. Going to Saxo will be very beneficial, along with Contador and Kreuziger hel be one of the main guys, he could even focus his attention on the classics. Races such as Amstel and Fleche could be ideal for him.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 546 ✭✭✭elduggo


    wav1 wrote: »
    Just seen article on stickybottle.com re saxo training camp in Gran Canaria.Not a great choice ot tee shirt from Nico.

    why? whats wrong with it?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,606 ✭✭✭MPFG


    hayzer114 wrote: »
    While it is rumoured that Saxo-Tinkoff may missout on a world tour place to Argos -Shimano I think with the presence of Contador they will still make most of the major races next season. As for Roche I think this is the move he has always needed. If you look at his performances in both the Tour and the Vuelta they have been consistent if unspectacular. He is more than capable of holding his own for 16/17 stages with the top guys but when the likes of Contador/Schleck/Froome/Nibali/Rodriguez put the foot down on the high mountains he just cant go anymore. No shame in that. Take this years Vuelta, he went as AG2R 3rd choice on GC and still was their highest performer, I feel that the team failed to give him sufficient support at times. Going to Saxo will be very beneficial, along with Contador and Kreuziger hel be one of the main guys, he could even focus his attention on the classics. Races such as Amstel and Fleche could be ideal for him.

    I agree with you...I am a Roche fan and think he will do alot better with Saxo but wonder if the team will be invited to races without Contador
    I too thought he did well in the Vuelta considering he had rode so hard in the Tour and he hung in there as best he could ( as did Froome) He even attacked to try and win the third last stage that Gilbert won ....He tries too many combinations as far as I see ...he needs to concentrate and hopefully on one day races and GT stages
    ( of course he wants to win Paris - Nice and a GT like his dad)
    He was in the top 5 riders who races the most miles in 2012 ...He needs to realise like most of the top riders that he needs to be selective rather than strung out on every race
    ( Contador races less than many but trains more for the races he has selected to win.including training on the routes..something Roche could learn)

    He would make a good classics rider with Saxo who besides Matti Bressiel are not strong in this area...He, unlike his father and cousin is not built for those high mountains


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 138 ✭✭CillianL


    wav1 wrote: »
    Just seen article on stickybottle.com re saxo training camp in Gran Canaria.Not a great choice ot tee shirt from Nico.

    That's just silly, who gives a ****e?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 945 ✭✭✭CaoimH_in


    Does this spell the end for his (misguided IMO) GC contender aims?

    What? I would take a top 8 over a stage win ANY day. He is a class rider. I think he can be a podium man too. He does have quality, he just needs guidance, and a bit more luck. Roll on Summertime and let's see what he can do for us!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,365 ✭✭✭Lusk Doyle


    elduggo wrote: »

    why? whats wrong with it?

    It's a bit loose on him.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,073 ✭✭✭Xenophile


    Met Nicholas Roche in Gran Canaria last week. Wearing a lovely Irish white tee shirt and "Ireland" logo on his rucksack. He had just finished a football game with this team mates. He requested his team mates to take it easy for a minute or two while we finished our conversation. Lovely personable guy deserves all the success he gets. A great ambassador for Ireland. I wish him every success.

    The Forum on Spirituality has been closed for years. Please bring it back, there are lots of Spiritual people in Ireland and elsewhere.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 398 ✭✭Flandria


    CaoimH_in wrote: »
    What? I would take a top 8 over a stage win ANY day. He is a class rider. I think he can be a podium man too. He does have quality, he just needs guidance, and a bit more luck. Roll on Summertime and let's see what he can do for us!

    Yes he needs guidance and luck, but more than that he needs to win. Four wins* in 8 years is a shocking record, and he knows it. Consistent top 8 finishes are all well and good but it is wins that people remember.

    *Excluding national championships


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 945 ✭✭✭CaoimH_in


    Flandria wrote: »
    Yes he needs guidance and luck, but more than that he needs to win. Four wins* in 8 years is a shocking record, and he knows it. Consistent top 8 finishes are all well and good but it is wins that people remember.

    *Excluding national championships

    It obviously hasn't been a goal? If he was required to win a stage, we would see him win stages. There isn't a doubt in my mind that if he wanted some poxy stage win to add to his palmares he'd be able for it. He's obviously under no pressure to get them so he can stick with his GC goals. He has entered 9 grand tours and of those 9 he has had 8 top 30 finishes. In 2010 Wiggins said 23rd wasn't bad, it was far from his goal but it wasn't bad for sure. And Mr Roche can get top 30 in nearly every attempt--top 16 in most of those too. He is still only 28 too. He's coming to maturity on a bicycle physically and once he gets enough tactical support, and becomes tactically cunning in the future, we will see the best of N. Roche yet. No more nonsense.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 398 ✭✭Flandria


    Some poxy stage win?:eek::eek: You honestly think there is a ProTour team out there somewhere that doesn't require it's riders to win races? Wow...


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 945 ✭✭✭CaoimH_in


    Flandria wrote: »
    Some poxy stage win?:eek::eek: You honestly think there is a ProTour team out there somewhere that doesn't require it's riders to win races? Wow...

    I didn't say that. I just think his team didn't need stage victories from him while he was there best GC contender. Make sense? Thus he could continue his GC ambitions.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,606 ✭✭✭MPFG


    Why did we not get Chris Juul-Jensen to ride for Irealnd ?? He was born and grew up in Ireland and lived there for 16 years. Neither Nico nor Dan Martin were born or grew up in the country

    I was born in london, grew up in Ireland from aged 5 and left Ireland when I was 22 ...I couldn't imagine not represnting Ireland if I was an international sports person...even if Denmark is a lovely place (I have never been)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,977 ✭✭✭wav1


    MPFG wrote: »
    Why did we not get Chris Juul-Jensen to ride for Irealnd ?? He was born and grew up in Ireland and lived there for 16 years. Neither Nico nor Dan Martin were born or grew up in the country

    I was born in london, grew up in Ireland from aged 5 and left Ireland when I was 22 ...I couldn't imagine not represnting Ireland if I was an international sports person...even if Denmark is a lovely place (I have never been)
    He opted for Denmark.But has he a sweet Dublin accent.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 546 ✭✭✭elduggo


    MPFG wrote: »
    Why did we not get Chris Juul-Jensen to ride for Irealnd ?? He was born and grew up in Ireland and lived there for 16 years. Neither Nico nor Dan Martin were born or grew up in the country

    he went back to Denmark and joined some Danish youth development program. He'd have been ineligible for that if he wasn't Danish, and if he hadn't have joined it its likely he wouldn't have gotten the pro contract that he did.

    He has very Irish mannerisms (I don't know him personally but know people who do), as is very evident from reading his tweets or listening to him speaking.
    I was born in london, grew up in Ireland from aged 5 and left Ireland when I was 22 ...I couldn't imagine not represnting Ireland if I was an international sports person...even if Denmark is a lovely place (I have never been)

    Same as that. Remember, Nico Roche declared for France for a couple of years. I can't recall the circumstances but I think it was something to do with funding or with not being guaranteed entry into some races as an Irish rider. That got sorted and he switched back. It seems a strange thing to be able to do, to switch nationalities almost at a whim. Perhaps Juul-Jensen will do the same down the line. He'd likely have a better chance of being a national champion, making a nationals squad, or an olympics as an Irish rider than a Danish rider.

    We should probably check out the background of other riders such as Jonathan Cantwell (probably too late for Stuart O'Grady at this stage) and check their Irish credentials!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,201 ✭✭✭manwithaplan


    001.jpg

    Nico to self: "I wonder should I mention to Alberto that my favourite film is We Need To Talk About Kevin"


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3 hayzer114


    I too agree that he needs to focus his attention on one if not two disciplines from now on. Hes going to have to decide is he a GC man (personally Im not sure although if he was fresh and didnt do the tour or giro he could have a right go at the vuelta) or a classics specialist or stage hunter. While it is admirable to want to do a Tour top ten as Contador said in a recent interview if you aim for top ten you will only make top 40. You have to aim to win. Nicolas' talent is undoubted and with a team that provides solid support he could and will do well. I found it disapointing over the past number of grand tours that he was consistently up in the top 15/20 that he was frequently left on his own by the team.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,182 ✭✭✭buffalo




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3 hayzer114


    Good article, interesting schedule. Obviously still has his sights on the Tour/Vuelta, has never shown any real interest in the Giro. Hopefully he can have a go at the week long stage races also. I think he may do LBL or Amstel also by the sounds of it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 799 ✭✭✭mistermatthew


    001.jpg

    Nico to self: "I wonder should I mention to Alberto that my favourite film is We Need To Talk About Kevin"

    He should talk to alberto about why he's wearing the union jack.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 971 ✭✭✭downwiththatsor




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