Nicolas Roche describes finding himself in a flowerbed at the Tour de France

Nicolas Roche ended up in a flowerbed after catapulting from his bike on stage five of the Tour de France

Nicholas Roche on stage five of the 2015 Tour de France

(Image credit: Watson)

Crashes have been an unfortunately large part of the Tour de France through its first five stages, but at least when Nicolas Roche went down on stage five he had a soft landing.

The Team Sky rider is keeping a stage-by-stage diary in the Irish Independent, where he lets the readers in on what it's like on the road, and sometimes off the road, like he experienced on Wednesday.

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Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.