Retired pro and Vuelta a España stage winner Nicolas Roche was the victim of an attempted robbery as he left a restaurant in Barcelona, Spain this week.

The 41-year-old wrote on Instagram that he was attacked by three men, who were trying to steal his watch. He escaped with minor facial injuries from the incident, which he described as the “biggest fright of my life”.

“Just been attacked and beaten up by three men as I walked out of a restaurant in central Barcelona trying to rob my watch,” Roche wrote in now timed-out Instagram stories.

“Thanks to my girlfriend and the two security agents from the shop further down the street I managed to not only save my watch but mostly stopped the attackers from beating me more.”

The Irishman went on to say that he believes the attack was pre-planned.

“It’s crazy to think that someone in the restaurant must have warned the gang to wait outside for me. I had read about all of this in the news but it’s something else to experience it. Biggest fright of my life,” he said.

“Where I was shocked was that for over five minutes people stood there watching as I was on the ground as my girlfriend was shouting for help until eventually the two security came out to scare the thieves away.”

“Thankfully ‘only’ a few cuts on my face and a bruise on my elbow. [My girlfriend] Marta got a hit behind the head trying to protect my head on the ground. Still finding it hard to believe what happened. Be careful everyone going out.”

Roche, son of Ireland’s first and only Tour de France winner Stephen Roche, retired from his 17-year career as a professional cyclist at the end of 2021. He previously rode for AG2R La Mondiale, Tinkoff-Saxo, Team Sky, BMC and most recently DSM.

He was a four-time Irish national champion, split equally between road race and time trial titles, and finished second on a stage of the Tour de France in 2009.

During his career, Roche rode 24 Grand Tours, where his role was generally as a domestique and road captain; he was part of Chris Froome’s winning Tour de France team in 2015.

Professional cyclists should not have to "risk their life if they hope to perform", former Vuelta a España stage winner Nicolas Roche has said, after a horror crash at Itzulia Basque Country on Thursday.

In a long post on Instagram, the two-time Irish national road champion said that he has "come to fear" for his friends who are still racing, and suggested that higher speeds and better braking power is partly to blame.

The intervention follows the crash at Itzulia Basque Country on Thursday, which saw three of the favourites for the Tour de France - Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) - hit the deck.

Vingegaard was the worst affected of this trio, suffering a collapsed lung, a broken collarbone and "several" fractured ribs, while Evenepoel also broke his clavicle. 

Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) suffered a cervical and two thoracic spine vertebral body fractures, while Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) also came away with a collapsed lung, broken ribs and a two fractured vertebrae.

In 2019, Roche was a victim of a crash at the Vuelta a España while in the leader's jersey. It was later revealed that he had broken his kneecap.

"I never really recovered from this crash," Roche said. "It shaped the last years of my career but still today almost 5 years after I still live with consequences."

The Irishman retired from the sport in 2021, and recalled that in his early years in the sport, descents were used as periods of recovery, rather than the full gas race they have become now. 

Roche said that he was "more scared" towards the end of his career, due to increased danger of crashing.

"I have come to fear for my friends racing," the 39-year-old said. "The speed is higher, the general level is higher, the battle for aero has also become on the edge of dangerous, the braking power is greater (meaning less reaction time behind to brake) riders ride closer. 

"Teams make the most of danger zones to put pressure, road furniture is built to make vehicles go slower when cyclist are going faster... the stakes for victory are so high that riders are ready to risk it all."

Last June, a high-speed downhill crash at the Tour de Suisse saw Swiss rider Gino Mäder lose his life, which saw a growth in calls to make the sport safer.

Roche said that the blame for serious crashes is to be shared around, but that all parties needed to work together to provide a less dangerous work environment.

"I feel for many years riders were blaming organisers, but was most times a rider's fault," he said. "But organisers are also looking for more spectacular routes!

"I don't believe there is one single reason to blame for causing all of these crashes. But everyone and everything plays a part.

"Crashes have been part of the sport, they created the drama but this is way out of hand. It's not normal that riders should risk their life if they hope to perform. Hopefully the sport can work all together to provide a safer job."

Nicolas Roche has been appointed sports director of the Cycling Ireland Senior Road Program.

The recently retired pro will immediately start preparing for the European Championships in August and the Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, in September.

“Having recently retired from professional cycling I am delighted to be asked by Cycling Ireland to become part of the organisation in this manner," Roche said. "I am very taken by the ambition and vision for cycling in Ireland...I benefited from support and guidance throughout my career, and I am looking forward to giving back to junior and U23 riders and hopefully helping to develop a pipeline of Irish talent."

Along with running the elite road squads, Roche will mentor the junior and U23 teams, passing down the wisdom accrued from a 17-year career including 24 Grand Tour starts.

>>> 'We have protocols in place to the aid of everyone': Team DSM sports director delivers impassioned response to claims of team being overly strict

“As a modern governing body, it is only right to engage retired athletes in this way and assist in their career transitions – we’re really pleased to have Nicholas supporting the current crop," Matt McKerrow, CEO of Cycling Ireland, said. 

”We have a number of further roles to fill in our High-Performance team and it’s very much our aspiration they will all bring the level of experience, knowledge and passion to the organisation that Nico does”.

>>> ‘There were other problems when I started,' says Nicolas Roche, 'it was pre-Puerto and I was getting my ass whupped every weekend with people cheating’

Roche represented Ireland at four Olympic Games and won the Irish National Road Championship three times in 2007, 2009 and 2016.

Before turning his focus back to racing, however, Roche is currently competing on Ireland's Dancing With The Stars, winning public votes to progress through the first few rounds.

Nicolas Roche is sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair in a narrow corridor inside a grand, Grade-II listed building in the centre of London. A few metres away through thick walls are the remnants of the crowd who just listened to him and his team-mate Romain Bardet chat for the past 45 minutes.

Of all the talks happening over the three days of Rouleur Live a couple of months ago, this was the most popular. The combination of two big names in cycling, Roche’s retirement and the intrigue surrounding what exactly is going on at Team DSM resulting in people having to squeeze through the doorway to get within earshot.

“I can’t say too much or they won’t pay me in December,” Roche half-jokes when the subject of the tumultuous times at DSM - which mostly concerns the continued exodus of talented riders - is brought up on stage.

At the start of the year Roche had seen himself riding professionally until he physically couldn’t do it anymore, yet one day in August he awoke before a race and knew it was time to do something else. This is a common phenomenon amongst ageing pros, yet Roche never thought it would happen to him. Until it did.

Intertwined with this epiphany that his career would soon be over was the diverging path his employers DSM wanted to go down. Part of their philosophy, like many other outfits in the WorldTour these days, sees an emphasis placed on young talent, More specifically, malleable young talent.

“Teams want control on everything and I was collateral damage of that,” Roche continues. “Sometimes experienced riders clash with ideology.”

After 17 years in the pro ranks, there were some things Roche was unwilling to compromise on to please his latest employers in a decorated career. He knew how to prepare and execute his job to the best of his ability and had the track record to prove it.

However, this control and seriousness exerted over professional racing no doubt continues to ratchet up as the scientific revolution within the sport continues its arms race.

“Lennard Kamna had a breakdown, this should not happen,” is another snippet of Roche's candid on-stage conversation, his former team-mate having not raced on the road since May after taking a break from the sport, the German now set to return in 2022.

Sat on the plastic chair in the green room, his audience reduced from hundreds of people to just one, Roche ponders each question before answering, staring into the distance as he lasers in on exactly what it is he wants to say. When he does make eye contact, a steely gaze pierces your skull. He is deliberate, a man who has achieved a lot already and is not done just yet.

After finishing his final races, a fitting, understated send-off at the Irish National Championships, Roche entered the final months of collecting paychecks from professional cycling.

The first thing he did with his newfound freedom? Jump out of an airplane.

"I guess so, it wasn't intentional but it definitely is," Roche tells Cycling Weekly of whether flinging yourself out of an aircraft and hurtling towards the ground is the perfect metaphor of retiring from the peloton.

"I think many saw it as me realising there's a lot of other ways to enjoy different things that I haven't done when I was a cyclist and jumping out of the plane is something that I would not have done during my career.

"Maybe I also needed the adrenaline rush and I was absolutely shitting myself before the jump. I just think I needed to be in that uncomfortable zone, although it's only a month since I retired so it's not like I miss it desperately. But it's just the...it was a challenge and I just needed to challenge myself."

Although there are still itches Roche clearly needs to scratch, it's not like his diary has become any clearer since his final race. Travelling between Ireland, France and Italy for both business and pleasure, the wedding of his team-mate Nikias Arndt in Germany, test-driving for the e-Scooter World Championships, and also getting ready to compete in Dancing With Stars on Irish TV.

"I'm still looking to plan for the future because today I don't have a 100 per cent guaranteed job for next year," he admits. "I have a couple of things coming up, I have a lot of things that are pending."

In 2020, when many pro's last years was ripped away from them by the pandemic, Frenchman Yoann Offredo provided possibly the rawest account of what it's like to finally climb off after all those years of riding a bike for a living as fast as you possibly can.

"I miss my legs hurting when I go upstairs after training," Offredo said at the time. "I used to spend around 30 hours per week on my bike. I’m no longer tired enough to get to sleep at night. At 3am I’m still awake and I’m asking myself questions. In the morning I’ve sometimes woken up in tears."

"I've been extremely exhausted actually," Roche counters. "I felt like I got hit by a truck. 

"I think I just had so much stress, anxiety and pressure that once I managed to slow down I felt like everything just hit me. I've been extremely tired, even on the bike, in the gym, or in normal life. I can see where [Offredo] is coming from but I've been sleeping quite well."

The 37-year-old has the mindset of "going in there and trying to kick ass" whatever he ends up doing. During his career he was told many times that his various businesses and business interests were a distraction from his main profession but now he's thankful that he started preparing for the end six years ago. He's invested in bike shops in London and Ireland, invested in a food franchise in London as well. His friend who runs the latter business has even promised him a job, whether it's in the kitchen or in management, in the very unlikely event everything else goes tits up.

"Some top athletes who made decent money and decide not to work because they can afford not to go crazy after a while because you're just so driven all the time. You need to have goals, you need to have things on your mind.  For me, I just know that I need to be busy, I need to be travelling, I need to go left, right, do this and do that and think about three months ahead, not just about tomorrow."

What there is time for now, amidst all the continued energy and drive, are moments of stillness that offer reflection on a long and great career as well as how the times have changed.

"I'm lucky I went through my career and my time," he reckons. "I wanted to be a pro cyclist, I never wanted to be the richest guy in my town or whatever. I wanted to race my bicycle for as long as I could."

Roche sees this as possibly a dying ideology. Riders now are getting a lot of money thrown at them at a very young age. By 25, they may have made more than an older rider has in their 15-year career.

"But what do you do next?" Roche asks of being in that situation.

"There are so many sports out there that are more fun than cycling or more socially engaging. You choose cycling because you want to be a cyclist because you like cycling for whatever reason.

"How are these kids gonna react in five, six years when they're 28 or 30, do they still want to be a cyclist? Or say, 'okay, I've made enough, I'm happy enough, it's time to do something else.'"

But maybe that's the right way to think, Roche admits. Maybe, cyclists don't need to be professional for 15 years. After 10 years in the current peloton, which is much more of an intense experience now than it used to be, the current youngsters could be fed up with the whole circus.

"It requires a lot more than when I started," Roche says. "I used to write my training in a scrapbook and at the end of the week we'd have a phone call and I'd say on Monday I did two hours and 150 heart rate and this and that, and you'd read it out to your coach. Now, every day you have to upload everything. There's just so much extra involved today in cycling."

So is he glad he had his time when he did? Or would he prefer to be just breaking through in 2021?

"It's difficult to say because when I started there were other problems. It was pre-Puerto. There were other problems and I was getting my ass whupped every weekend with people cheating. 

"Every generation every couple of years faces certain type of problems. Maybe in 10 years' time it will be even worse because it'll be something else, it'll be more technology, more data, more anything. Look how many guys have monitors for sleep now. I've been to races with bad sleep and it didn't affect my performances, now the guys, the data tells them they had one hour of not deep sleep and they go crazy. Like, already they've lost the race before it even started. I think sometimes when you have too much data, you also start to think too much.

"But it's about adapting to what's going on [in the situation or the time you find yourself in] and not just saying it's good or it's bad. It's just that's the way it is."

Just like in his riding, Roche is a consistently excellent interviewee. You can ask any question you want and he will focus in on you, eyes drilling down into your soul, articulating exactly what he wants to say on the subject you've posed. He bristles with the toughness that has got him to where he is but on the flipside is also possibly the best-dressed man to ever ride a bike - he is very precise with his wardrobe and has a kindness baked into his face that reveals the human behind the machine that has furiously turned the pedals for the past two decades.

As for his departure from DSM, it's just "pure business". In 2022, Roche did not fit into his team's business plan. The departure of Tom Dumoulin, the latest top GC rider for whom Roche would provide essential experience and support, has left DSM rudderless at times, with no talismanic figure to throw their weight behind. Left instead to target stage wins and smaller prizes, and with Roche growing older every year, eventually, the Irishman was surplus to requirement.

I was disappointed, and I'm right to be disappointed," Roche explains. "But I'm not angry with the team. I understand this is pure business."

At the outset of the announcement of his retirement, Roche said that in some ways he regards himself as the biggest loser, which is quite a crushing sentiment, not just for those who think fondly of Roche but also for the rest of us who couldn't even dream of achieving what he has.

"I think maybe it's an internal frustration where throughout my career I was renowned for being consistent and that was my strongest point, but sometimes consistency is not rewarded.

"You see riders who go shit for a couple of years and then they come in, win five races, and they're superstars. Then they disappear again for a couple of years, and then they come back again.

"I had a lot of top 10s in my career in some of the biggest races, but I also feel that I had very few wins. But it was also my choice because I almost only rode WorldTour races, or very few non-WorldTour races."

If he'd spent more time in Argentina, Slovakia or Turkey, Roche argues, he'd have more wins, but Roche says his strategy throughout his career was to be with the "big fish" all of the time, which means he retires as a rider with the prestige most would only dream of possessing, with only one caveat.

"My disappointment is I never won a stage in the Tour de France and I was so close so many times."

Despite saying his bank manager would have been happier had he maybe followed a different path where he tried to cross the finish line first outside of cycling's heartlands, Roche appears content, both with what he's done so far and where he's going.

As he heads out and onto the dark streets of London, he passes Jonas Vingegaard and his young family, the Dane's partner scrambling to contain their belligerent infant daughter from the mass of bodies making their way back and forth as the live show outside the green room rumbles on.

Two riders at opposite ends of their journey, a visual representation of the revolving door of the professional peloton. One talent enters, another exits. Although the eyes of the cycling world may drift, Roche's story is only part-written.

Sunweb’s Nicolas Roche was one of the many riders caught in crashes during a stressful stage 10 of the Tour De France.

The Irishman was caught in a fall around 70km from the finish in îl de Ré along with a lot of other riders including Sam Bewley (Mitchelton-Scott), who was forced to abandon, and Jumbo-Visma domestique Robert Gesink. 

But despite looking in a terrible state immediately after the crash, needing to be helped to his feet before getting back on the bike, Roche was able to battle to the end of the stage 10 minutes down on the winners. 

After the stage, Roche revealed the extent of the injuries he suffered in the falling, including a picture of the puncture wounds that were caused by a cassette in the crash. 

Posting on Instagram, Roche said it was “one of those days.”

He also shared a picture of the injuries he suffered to his arm, which were caused by the teeth on the rear cogs of a bike in the fall. 

Roche said: “Lovely rear cassette engraved in my arm. Nope it wasn’t a tiger. 

“Thanks to the Tour de France medical centre that stitched me up tonight.” 

The big crash happened in the bunch around 100km into the stage, when a rider near the back of the bunch fell in the right hand side of the road.

Other riders were unable to avoid the fall, which spread across the road.

Bewley was forced to abandon the stage with a broken wrist, which took him out of his first Tour de France. 

 Despite his injuries, Roche was able to finish the race and started stage 11. 

>>> Tour Tech: Why are pros running MTB discs and is that a new set of Shimano wheels? 

 There were a handful of other crashes throughout the day, with Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) also affected by falls.  

"I get carried away with it, they're good memories and the story isn't just about me having strong legs and saying I've done this, I've done that."

Nicholas Roche is talking about the Vuelta a España. His favourite Grand Tour that has seen him win two stages and wear the red jersey on two separate occasions. These are career-defining achievements for any rider, but what gives Roche's story depth is the small margins that decided it. Always a couple of seconds here or there.

As the Irishman time travels back to baking hot Augusts in Spain to distract himself from the (at the time of speaking) fortnight spent in coronavirus lockdown in his Monaco apartment, the tale resembles the sort of craggy stage profile you'd expect in a Grand Tour. There are the obvious ups, but he is as candid about the missteps he says cost him many more victories along the way.

For an hour and a half, he gives a comprehensive examination of his relationship with what he admits is his favourite Grand Tour. He's no longer stuck inside his apartment doing efforts on the turbo trainer just to make time go faster, instead, he's back on hot Spanish roads, duelling Daniel Moreno for his first Grand Tour stage win in 2013. Then, he's winning his second with Team Sky in 2015 before taking his second red jersey in 2019 and subsequently crashing out with a broken kneecap, one of the biggest disappointments of his career.

The Spanish Grand Tour is about passion and suffering, especially for Nicholas Roche.

'Finally, finally, finally, a Grand Tour stage'

"The Vuelta has always been a race that fitted in with my natural body clock. I've always been better in July, August and September where somehow things kind of click in better for me, I like the heat," Roche says. "It's the climbs as well, short and steep, not the longer ascents we're used to seeing in the Tour and the Giro where power-to-weight ratio is really crucial."

The 2013 Vuelta was Roche's 11th Grand Tour since he rolled out of Caprera for the team time trial at the 2007 Giro, but six years later he had left behind the French teams of his first nine years as a pro to join Saxo-Tinkoff.

Roche had first ridden the Tour de France in support of Alberto Contador, who finished fourth overall, with the Vuelta earmarked for the Irishman to see how far he could push his own personal ambitions.

"It was brilliant because until then I'd never had a team to support me. It was always, 'we'd give Nico a hand' but the goal for the team was always to get in the breakaway," Roche says. "Don't get me wrong, I always had one or two riders that were there to help me out during the day but I never had a full team to support me."

The Irishman says the lead up to the race was perfect, heading off for an altitude camp in Livigno with team-mate Roman Kreuziger who kept him motivated and reinforced his confidence, telling him "the little words that count every day".

"We had a really good group of riders and friends who were prepared to race and everything clicked together," Roche says. "Then I just had to take my chance. Everything was right from day one."

In the opening team time trial, Saxo only shipped 32 seconds to Vincenzo Nibali's Astana, but it was sitting on the bus the next day alongside Rafał Majka, Chris Anker Sørensen, Michael Mørkøv and Kreuziger that the touchpaper was lit.

"Bjarne [Riis] put both of his hands on my shoulders and said, 'Nico, you have it in you. You've worked so hard. I believe you can win the stage. And I believe you can win today.'

"I was never told that many times, it was great, and when I attacked I just had this feeling. I was confident, just because of those words that today I could do it."

This ambition had always been there, Roche says, but luck hadn't followed.

"I was always extremely competitive but I wasn't a winner. I just could not win a bike race. I could get results but there was always something that meant that I didn't have that killer instinct like some riders have, but I should have been able to win a lot more than what I've achieved in my career.

"There's a lot of times that I f*cked up and most times from my own fault. I went too late, I went too early, I got overexcited, I attacked when I had a good sprint, I attacked with 1km to go rather than waiting for the sprint, all these little mistakes. I put myself in a position to win but then finishing it off... I've always missed that."

In 2008 he had come within a photo finish of claiming a Grand Tour stage victory, edged out by Imanol Erviti, the Spaniard clawing his way past on the finishing straight in the two-up sprint.

But on August 25 2013, Roche took his chance on what he describes as a perfect stage for him. A short and steep climb meant "everything fitted in for me to have a proper go and obviously my confidence was really high so I thought I'd just go for it when König attacked and it worked out."

With under 2km to go, Leopold König shoots off the front of the bunch. Under the flamme rouge, Daniel Moreno drags himself, Domenico Pozzovivo and Roche back onto the Czech rider's wheel. Pozzovivo then launches his effort before Roche comes flying up from fourth position, past Moreno and König, then dropping Pozzovivo. Moreno tries to get back on terms but the Irishman is gone, sailing across the finish line, hands raised.

"I regret closing my jersey and putting my hands up in the air," Roche admits. "I was so excited that I'd won and wasn't thinking that every second counted because 10 days later I lost the red jersey by one second to Moreno. I could have had the jersey for two days back in 2013 but I only kept it one day.

"But I always think maybe I lost the second somewhere else... because there was the team time trial, there was a lot of other stuff, but I was like 'f*ck, if I had not closed my jersey at the top and really just sprinted for the line and put my hands in the air after I might have been able to keep the jersey for two days'. I didn't think about that on the day though, I thought that 11 days later," he laughs.

The day itself was reserved not for regret but relief. He had achieved what he had been working towards his whole life. "Finally, finally, finally, a Grand Tour stage, that was all I could think," says Roche. "It was like an explosion of joy. I just felt it was like taking a house off my shoulder. It wasn't a brick. It was a proper house, just all this weight. I was always for years, there and thereabouts, but never a winner. If you look at my palmarès I have so many seconds, fifths, sevenths, eighths.

"I've made mistakes that cost me very important victories but for me to be able to win, that was like 'oh yes!' because I could have had it done in 2008 when it was a photo finish and I got carried away there, I attacked with 600m to go and then I was caught on the line by Erviti. It could have already happened in my second-ever Grand Tour but no, I had to wait until eight Grand Tours later to be able to get that win. And in the Tour de France I was already second twice before that. I just had this frustration where I was like 'I'm gonna get results in Grand Tours but I just need to win a stage' and that was it, that was it done."

Over the next week of racing Roche hovered around the upper GC placings, then on stage eight, finishing behind König and Moreno this time, he finished far enough ahead of Chris Horner and Vincenzo Nibali to take the red jersey, finding himself in the lead in a Grand Tour for the first time ever.

His joy was short-lived, though, as the next day Moreno claimed his second stage win of the race and the eight-second advantage across the line meant he leapfrogged the Irishman by just a single second. Your first day ever in a leader's jersey at a Grand Tour is supposed to be one you cherish, but this was not the case for Roche.

"The stage where I lost it [and the one day he wore the red jersey in the race], unfortunately, I did not enjoy a second of the stage. I enjoyed the sign-on and that was about it," Roche admits.

"It was a hardcore stage. I remember Katusha had their plan to take the jersey off me and the race went bananas from kilometre one.

"Katusha were the hammer and we were the nails. We just sat behind Katusha all day and it was a high-speed train to the finish. When Moreno went, he just went."

A freezing end to GC ambitions

At the start of stage 14, a miserably cold and rainy day in Andorra, Roche sat in second on GC, 31 seconds behind Nibali. By the end of the day, however, he had slipped to sixth overall, four minutes off the pace and out of the serious GC placings.

"Once again, talking about shooting myself in the foot," Roche begins, "when you're growing up in Ireland or in the UK you get brought up saying you must be hard and not overdress when it's rainy and all that. Somehow, though, I was smart and actually Horner and I were two of the first guys to go back and get legwarmers, rain jackets, and everything.

"Then everybody started panicking when we started hitting the climb 50km down the road when it started snowing. This is where Basso had to stop and had to pull out because his hands froze but I was ready.

"When we started that second last climb I remembered the stage profile, there was the descent and then one or two kilometres of flat and then straight up to the final climb that was the Coll de la Gallina. And I was trying to think and looking back to when I was 15 in Ireland where when you came to sprint finishes you needed to take all your clothes off, there was no such thing as crossing the line with your arm warmers down."

Going up that climb Roche says he was getting a little bit overexcited as Valverde, who was trailing him by 15 seconds on GC, had been dropped and was two minutes down the road. With Chris Horner and Joaquim Rodriguez the next closest pair, both two minutes behind in the overall, Roche's chances of securing a podium place were looking solid.

"It was almost done... it was something that was really realistic until my decision on the top of the last climb. I was afraid to do the last climb with my legwarmers on as I thought it would mean I wasn't going to be to breathe because they're thicker, but bloody hell it was minus two, of course I was going to be able to breathe with kneewarmers on!

"So I stripped on the final descent and threw everything at the buses that were parked at the bottom of the last climb and when I got out of the saddle at the bottom my knees were two pieces of ice. I lost six minutes in six kilometres and that was the biggest mistake of my life. I had just basically thrown away a Grand Tour podium because I took off my bloody kneewarmers.

"But it was unbelievable, if you look at the video again you can see me riding so easy, perfectly positioned on the second last climb with Horner and that group of leaders and then suddenly you see the first one dropped on the climb and then I had nothing left, I could not move on the bike. I was frozen.

"That was game over and Valverde caught me at the bottom, a couple of kilometres down the road, and he put three minutes into me within a couple of kilometres. My dreams of a podium were completely gone."

At the end of the stage Roche was inconsolable.

"My head was down, I was like a beaten dog. That night Bjarne came up to the dinner table with a bottle of wine and served a glass to everybody and he said, 'right, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Today it was a hard battle, let's have a drink together and forget about it and refocus for tomorrow'.

"We had our glass of wine and then he said, 'alright, you guys rest and relax, I'll put together a plan.'"

The next morning Saxo-Tinkoff went on the attack. Not willing to settle for Roche's sixth on GC, it was top five or nothing at all. Roche talks of the dedication of his team-mates after he attacked on the Port de Bales climb, with Oliver Zaugg waiting for him on the descent before Majka sat up to assist up the Peyresourde to the finish, helping Roche finish third on the stage and claw back vital seconds.

Two days later, Matteo Tosatto, Mørkøv and Majka would split the peloton in crosswinds in the closing kilometres, taking Roche back up to fifth place, and that's where he would stay. Majka once again was on hand in the final, yet significant, task of the Angliru summit finish of stage 20 to secure a top five GC finish in a Grand Tour.

"Rafał was keeping me motivated, he was like, 'come on Nico! Three weeks for this, five kilometres to go and we've done it, come on Nico! Come on Nico! Come on Nico!

"[After the finish] I went through to the tents and he gave me a hug and when he let go of me my legs went, I kind of had a dizzy spell and that was it, I was on the ground," he laughs.

"But I was done, I was top five in a Grand Tour and it was great to live that experience of having a full team ride with me and then me being able to deliver quite a decent result."

How does this 2013 Vuelta stack up when compared to 2015, when he won another stage, or 2019 when he took the red jersey for a second time?

"I still think number one, definitely. Even to go back to 2010 when I was sixth overall with Ag2r, I think I was only 45 seconds from the podium in 2010 and I completely messed up on my time trial. I was so so nervous and we were all still tight [on GC].

"I went flat out with a headwind and had a super intermediate time but then there was a tailwind and you really had to push to get your speed up and I was really losing time to my rivals. I knew I could have made the podium in a Grand Tour with that time trial and I was just lacking experience. I didn't manage it well at all, I completely cracked under pressure."

The second coming of Nicholas Roche

"The 2015 Vuelta was quite disappointing for me as I started off in really good shape, as good as in 2013. I think in the first week I was third or fourth on GC when I had three crashes in two days. The next day was the rest day and then I started the Andorra stage and I just felt it was not going to happen. I spent a couple of days in the gruppetto and I was struggling but I was not going to go home."

Having just arrived at Sky and riding well in a Tour team that delivered Chris Froome his second yellow jersey, he was now riding at the Vuelta as a back-up to the two-time Tour winner and so was allowed some freedom. Roche wasn't about to give up this opportunity.

"I was just like, wow, I've had my chance with Saxo-Tinkoff and now my chance with Sky. This is amazing."

Roche says some days when the peloton was doing 4,000m of climbing he did think what on earth he was still doing in the race but he kept the faith, shipping an hour over the second week that saw him fall down the overall rankings as Froome pulled out after fracturing his foot in a crash.

On stage 18, however, Roche was feeling healthier and more positive, deciding to give the race a final go. Looking at the stage map he knew it was going to be a tailwind for the first couple of hours and that was when the breakaway would go. He put on a 54-tooth chainring to give him more leverage with the tailwind that helped him make the break alongside other strong riders.

Roche bid his time and attacked on the last climb, with Haimar Zubeldia hanging on for company. They agreed to go flat out to the finish and let the best man win.

Watching the footage of the finishing straight back, you would assume Roche is grimacing as he looks round to check Zubeldia is still on his wheel, but look more closely and it more resembles a grin. As the sprint opens up the Spaniard can't get past and once again Roche manages to punch the air in celebration just before the white line. "For me, it was a moment in my career where it was just so important to win," says Roche.

Roche's stage win had salvaged something from what was a Grand Tour to forget for Sky.

The third act

Going into the 2019 Vuelta, Sunweb had Wilco Kelderman as their priority with Roche, not as a backup, but a rider who would be giving a chance to do something, which is all the Irishman wanted.

They rode an impressive team time trial with a relatively inexperienced squad and finished only five seconds down on Astana's best time. The next morning Roche wasn't the only rider with the red jersey potentially within his grasp.

"It was not unexpected because that morning I'd had a lot of texts from friends who said, 'Nico you could be in red tonight' and at that point I believed stage two was going to be a bunch sprint, but when the speed went up on the climb I knew this wasn't going to happen," he says.

Roche capitalised on a previous move by Davide Formolo that split the race up, attacking with Mikel Nieve before being joined by a Rigoberto Urán, Nairo Quintana, Fabio Aru and Primož Roglič, who were all looking to capitalise on race leader Miguel Ángel López being caught out behind.

"I thought, 'alright, this is a proper group now, now we have a chance', but at that point I was thinking of the stage win more than the red jersey, just because it's a natural reflex, you know?

"When you're there and you're going flat out, racing for the win, I wasn't that aware of my advantage, it only came up with about 10km to go. I just asked on the radio if there was a chance of me taking red and Luke Roberts [DS] said, 'Nico, if you win the stage you're in red'. That was the perfect answer."

There were many stipulations as to who could have ended up in red.

If Roche had finished second but Urán was third, the Colombian would have taken it by splits of a second. Bu Roche and Sunweb didn't have time to work out every possible permutation.

Nairo Quintana attacked with 3km to go and won the stage but Roche led the rest of the group across the line in second, putting himself in red by two seconds.

This time, Roche tripled his days in red, holding the race lead until stage five when Miguel Ángel López took back the jersey. Disaster struck the following day, though, as Roche was forced to abandon stage six after a huge crash that also claimed Urán and Hugh Carthy.

"There’s not much to say," Roche said after crashing out. "I think this is one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had in my career. I’d worked so hard to get back to this level and it was a new opportunity to show that I was at this level again."

Initially, Roche required stitches to his left forearm as well as suffering a bruised right quadricep but further medical checks revealed the Irishman also suffered a fractured left kneecap.

"After going through the big disappointment of leaving the Vuelta, I held hope that I would still be able to continue riding my bike and compete in the Italian classics once the swelling had healed," Roche said at the time. "But this news has just hit me again – now my priority is to look after my rehabilitation in the best way possible so that I can get back healthy and on the bike ASAP."

Stage six of the Vuelta was, unsurprisingly, Nicholas Roche's last race day of 2019. He resolved to work hard to rehabilitate over winter so he could arrive in 2020, his sixteenth year as a pro, in top condition.

He only managed three race days before coronavirus put the season on hold, taking seventh overall at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, finishing behind the likes of Nairo Quintana, Romain Bardet, Richie Porte and Thibaut Pinot.

When we spoke, Roche had been in his Monaco apartment for two weeks and was looking on the bright side of things, just as he has done when looking back on his career so far.

"There are days where although I've been alone and I've seen nobody except from at my local grocery place and boulangerie, there are days where I just don't feel lonely despite spending 24 hours a day alone.

FaceTime dinners with friends, copious turbo training sessions, as well as e-racing, which Roche has continuously been at the pointy end of, have kept him occupied over the following five weeks of lockdown.

"So from today we can go out on the road," Roche writes on Instagram on Monday May 4. "Unfortunately only within the principality. I guess I might stick to the ergo one more week. It's been seven weeks, I can survive eight."

Survival is a quality most pros need as a built-in feature in order to succeed, and the same goes for Roche. It's not about endless dominant performances and countless wins, it's a real story of a real bike racer. Like a Grand Tour, his tale has depth, nuance, and passion.

His father, Stephen Roche, only competed in the Vuelta once, in 1992, and came 14th. That the chaos of the universe conspired for his son to find his own path of sporting highs in the Spanish Grand Tour is more by accident than design.

"I've always, in a way, been quite lucky that I've had support at the right moments. And yes, things worked out because I was in the shape of my life but maybe it couldn't have worked out and that was it," he analyses.

All along the way, his story could have been different. A different decision here, a few seconds either way there. For instance, his career high-point could have been at the Tour de France in Nice, and this small change would have made his life deviate to a point where his 2013 Vuelta would have probably never happened.

"I was only three seconds off yellow in Nice in 2013, so it wasn't like I was too far off the yellow jersey either, it just never happened," he chuckles.

Always, Roche makes his peace with the pandemonium. A useful quality for the world we find ourselves in today.

While riders in the UK have been able to ride outside, plenty of pros have been trapped inside their homes over the last few weeks due to coronavirus lockdown rules in European countries.

But now after around six weeks of restrictions France, Spain and Italy are all beginning to ease the lockdown.

Monaco, city-state on the French Riviera and home to dozens of professional cyclists, ended its quarantine on Friday (May 4) and riders are now free to train outside again, if only inside the narrow borders of the city.

Former three-time world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) is among those now allowed to venture outside.

He said: “Today is the first time I can go ride on the bicycle, but just in Monaco. I hope everything is going to be fine. I can’t wait to pedal for the first time in seven weeks outside.

“See you soon, I hope.”

Sagan managed two stage races before coronavirus lockdown put a stop to the cycling season, the Vuelta a San Juan and Paris-Nice, but like the rest of the cycling world is facing an uncertain season.

Irish rider Nicolas Roche had mixed feelings about being allowed out on the road however.

The Sunweb pro said: “So from today we can go out on the road. Unfortunately only within the principality. I guess I might stick to the ergo one more week. Been seven weeks, can survive eight."

“Although might go for a stroll or two just to get a bit of fresh air and learn to brake again.”

Elsewhere in the world, Astana’s Davide Martinelli is excitedly preparing to be able to ride out on the road in his home country, Italy.

Martinelli has been putting his fitness to good use, as he has been using the bike to courier essential goods to elderly people in his home village.

>>> Chris Froome says cycling has ‘turned the page’ since the Lance Armstrong doping era 

He said: Everything is ready. It’s like the first day of school! For all those who will resume exercising outdoors, I recommend that you respect the various safety measures.”

While pros can now train outside once again, there is still no clear indication when racing might return.

Rumours have suggested WorldTour racing may resume on August 1 with Strade Bianche, as the Tour de France is currently scheduled to take place from August 29.

Nicolas Roche has extended his contract with Sunweb for two further years until 2021, following a successful first season with the German team.

The contract extension will keep him racing until he is at least 37 years old, and will take his number of years as a professional rider up to 17.

>>> Doctors tell Tom Dumoulin he will make full recovery as Dutchman posts injury update

Although the Irishman is currently out injured after breaking his kneecap in a crash on stage six of the Vuelta a España, Roche wore the red jersey for three days at the beginning of the race, a high point in what has so far been a distinguished career, where he has raced for five different WorldTour outfits.

"I am extremely happy to be re-signing for two years with the team," Roche said. "I have really found my place here and I enjoy the role that I played in the team this year. It’s been great to share my experience with the younger guys and support in the Grand Tours. The days in red at the Vuelta were really the highlight of my season and now with two more years confirmed with the team, I’m already really looking forward to the upcoming season."

Sunweb coach Marc Reef said: "We’re really happy that Nicholas stays with the team for another two years. He’s one of the most experienced riders in the peloton, having ridden 22 Grand Tours throughout his career; experience that is invaluable in helping the young riders in the team."

"He rode two very good Grand Tours, including three days in the red leader’s jersey at the Vuelta, and he was a reliable team player in stage races throughout the year. His desire and motivation will also be incredibly helpful in helping to coach and guide the younger riders within the team over the coming years."

The re-signing of Roche will be a boost to Sunweb, who have largely had a 2019 to forget, struggling for results after their star rider Tom Dumoulin crashed out of the Giro d'Italia, ending his season, with the Dutchman later parting ways with the squad to join Jumbo-Visma.

Michael Matthews, another one of Sunweb's star riders, has also re-signed until 2021, while Tiesj Benoot coming over from Lotto-Soudal will bolster their chances in the Classics.

Nicolas Roche said abandoning the 2019 Vuelta a España is one of the biggest disappointments of his career.

Roche was involved in a huge crash on stage six to Ares del Maestrat, that forced a number of big names out of the race.

The crashed happened as the peloton descended at rapid pace around 100km into the stage and water on the road surface cause riders to slide out, with Roche (Sunweb), Rigoberto Urán and Hugh Carthy (EF Education First) all being forced to abandon.

“There’s not much to say,” Roche said after the stage. “I think this is one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had in my career. I’d worked so hard to get back to this level and it was a new opportunity to show that I was at this level again.”

>>> Water on road during descent caused crash that claimed Rigoberto Urán and Nicolas Roche at Vuelta a España 2019

The 35-year-old tried to continue the stage, but after visiting the medical car he decided to step off the bike.

He was taken to hospital in Castellón and tests showed he had not suffered any breaks, but needed 12 stitches in his left forearm and suffered a bruised right quadricep.

Roche had stolen the Vuelta lead on a surprisingly explosive stage two, holding a two second advantage over Movistar’s Nairo Quintana.

He then lost the red jersey on the first mountain stage of the race on day five to Alto de Javalambre, but was still fifth overall on the morning of the crash.

Urán had also been riding strongly in the opening week and was sixth on general classification at the start of stage six, but he was forced to abandon after suffering a broken collarbone in the fall.

>>> Five talking points from stage six of the Vuelta a España 2019 

Sunweb coach Luke Roberts said: “It was quite a high speed all day today and unfortunately on one of the downhills there was quite a big crash involving almost all our riders.

“It’s really bad luck to have lost Nico today.”

Nicolas Roche (Sunweb) red jersey run ended in the Vuelta a España, "killed" by an attack by world champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on the Javalambre climb.

The Irishman, who took the lead on stage two, ended stage five 1-30 minutes behind new leader Miguel Ángel López (Astana). López went free after an initial attack by Valverde, while his fellow Spaniard Ángel Madrazo (Burgos-BH) won from an escape at the Javalambre Observatory.

>>> Miguel Ángel López steals race lead on stage five after first mountain at Vuelta a España 2019

"I could see everyone was on their limits when Valverde attacked. That just killed me," Roche said while putting a red Sunweb jersey over the leader's jersey of the same colour.

"This kind of climb isn't ideal for me, with the changes of pace and accelerations."

The Javalambre climb rose 11.1 kilometres with grades of 16 per cent at times. Roche's team led the race both for him and for their designated leader Wilco Kelderman, who eventually lost 1-45 to López on the stage.

"It was a great experience to be in red. Last time [in 2013], I had it I only held it for one day," continued Roche.

"The team did a great job to support me and we worked well together on this stage. I'm in good condition and I rode a good climb today.

"I knew it would be difficult to defend the jersey today, and when the attacks came, I decided to go at my own pace and limit the losses."

Now Roche sits fifth overall at 57 seconds behind López, while Kelderman is at 10th at 1-50. Roche, now 35, has previously finished fifth overall in the 2013 Vuelta a España.

"I am feeling good. Maybe I can keep riding at this pace, I can think about finishing in the top 10," Roche explained.

"The problem with that is if you're close on GC no one will let you get into a breakaway. We'll see how these next mountain stages go."

Valverde's attack saw Roche fade and also shook many others with only López able to ride free. Behind, even Valverde's team-mate and team leader Nairo Quintana lost footing.

"I jumped several times and then I started riding to minimise losses with Superman," Valverde said. "At the beginning of the attacks, I thought Nairo was coming back, then I learned otherwise, but I'd already let up. Nairo is still there. Today it was a climb that suited him, but not every day the legs respond the same."

Sam Bennett texted Vuelta a España leader Nicolas Roche the night before his stage win, saying he had to win to make Irish history.

With Bennett's win in Alicante, it was the first time an Irishman won a stage in a Grand Tour with his countryman in the race lead.

Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter Bennett, 28, delivered ahead of Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) and Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) on the wind-swept coast in Alicante.

>>> Five talking points from stage three of the Vuelta a España 2019

"It's a big thing for Irish cycling," said Sunweb's Roche, who took the race leader's red jersey on stage two.

"Sam wrote to me last night and said 'now I've got to win while you are in the red jersey. It'll be great for Ireland.'"

Making it even better, Bennett won in the Irish national champion's jersey he took this summer in Londonderry.

"It's great to get another Grand Tour win and especially in the Irish champion's jersey; I'm very proud to win it," Bennett said.

"I can't tell you how relieved I am with that. I felt so bad last night, I can't tell you how bad my legs were. Thanks to the team today I could relax and follow, and really trust them. If it wasn't for the team effort, I wouldn't have got it."

The race already blew up on stage two, allowing Roche to ride clear in a group that included Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and eventual stage winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

On stage three the sprinters had their chance, riding along the coast with a tailwind, as Bora-Hansgrohe, Trek-Segafredo and Sunweb fought for control in Alicante.

>>> ‘No excuses’ for Team Ineos at Vuelta a España 2019 as Tao Geoghegan Hart and Wout Poels out of GC race 

Bennett added: "Sunweb closed us and we lost all of our speed. I got on to Trek's train. I knew it was a fast final, I wanted to kick first and I think Trek waited too long. With that wind, it's hard to come back on."

Bennett won three stages in the Giro d'Italia in 2018 but his team overlooked him in favour of Pascal Ackermann in the Giro this year. Peter Sagan led their sprint team in the Tour de France.

When asked of his Vuelta plans, Bennett said simply "win."

"I always feel that when you get the first one in a Grand Tour, it makes it a lot easier," He added.

"The longer it goes on without winning, the more the pressure builds.

"There don't seem to be that many opportunities in this year's Vuelta and if you don't get it this week, you're almost waiting until last week of the race. So it's good to get the win in early."

Nicolas Roche has said cycling faces issues more important than the “ridiculous” UCI sock checks being carried out at the Tour de France.

Former double Irish national champion Roche has shared his thoughts on the bizarre tests being carried out at the Tour, saying the examinations have been taking place since the start of the season.

The Sunweb rider said the UCI, cycling’s international governing body, has also been carrying out random tests at stage finishes.

>>> Strava stats show how tough Classics-style finish was on stage three of Tour de France 2019

Writing in his Tour diary for the Irish Independent, the 35-year-old said: “These checks have been doing on all year, but because it’s the Tour de France I think it’s the first time the general public have noticed it.

“In the event somebody might get past the rule by pulling their socks down a little bit before they’re measure, they even have random checks at the finish.

“It’s ridiculous. Our sport definitely has more important issues than sock height.”

The UCI sock rule has been reintroduced for 2019 as part of the organisation’s crackdown on clothing being used to gain an aero advantage.

Stage two of the Tour de France 2019 shed new light on the enforcement of the rule, as a commissaire was photographed carrying out a test using an unusual measuring device.

Regulations state: “Socks and overshoes used in competition may not rise above the height defined by half the distance between the middle of the lateral malleolus and the middle of the fibula head.”

In short, the sock must not breach the halfway mark between the ankle and the bottom of the knee.

>>> Here are all the riders fined at the Tour de France 2019

For 2019 the UCI extended their kit regulations to ban clothing that changes the shape or a rider and forbid any non-essential clothing or devices used for purposes other than protection.

The UCI had previously regulated sock height but that rule had disappeared from the books in recent years.

Nicolas Roche relishes the opportunity at Team Sunweb to work for Tour de France contender Tom Dumoulin.

Sunweb announced on Wednesday that Roche will join the team, seeing him leave BMC Racing after two years. The Irishman helped Chris Froome at Team Sky win the Tour de France and worked for Grand Tour star Alberto Contador in Tinkoff-Saxo Bank. The last two years with BMC Racing, he rode with Richie Porte.

"For me it's a great opportunity for me to go back and work for a rider who can aim for the overall victory, and it's something I really enjoy doing and I think Tom has the physical capability of doing it," Roche told Cycling Weekly.

"He's shown how strong he is in the TT and he's grown to one of the best climbers in the world as well. To win the Tour de France you need everything to go right and nothing to go wrong, and the legs obviously and the team – so there are many things that need to be combined to be a Tour de France winner. Physically, he's definitely capable of it."

Porte, affected by crashes, left the Tour de France on stage nine in both 2017 and 2018. He and many riders are leaving BMC Racing due to a late merger deal.

Polish group CCC will sponsor the team with BMC leaving, bringing in several riders from its Professional Continental team CCC Sprandi Polkowice. The deal came late in the 2018 season so some riders had already looked elsewhere for fear that the team would not exist.

"The merger has nothing to do with my change," Roche continued.

"It was a perfect fit for me, I'm looking forward to working with Dumoulin next year, and obviously there's great upcoming talent in the team and so it's great to have a role there and share some of experience that I've gathered over the years. I hear a lot of good stuff in the team about how organised they are and I'm looking forward to that."

Roche racing in the Vuelta a España now with Porte, who began with a stomach problems and lost time right away.

After two years at BMC, Roche welcomes the fresh start in the German WorldTour team with Dutch talents Dumoulin and Wilco Kelderman, and Australian Michael Matthews.

Dumoulin won the 2017 Giro d'Italia and this year, placed second in both the Giro and Tour.

"I insisted that I race until the end of the year, for me it was really important after having a difficult start of the year, I wanted to finish on a good note and race with the BMC jersey until the end of the year and finish in good terms," Roche added.

"I'm also relieved that the news came out so I can talk about it freely and how excited I am about next year."

Nicolas Roche will mark a return to the Giro d’Italia from Friday as a self-purported “Plan B” with BMC Racing that has purposefully disrupted the Irishman’s race schedule this season.

In his 14th year as a professional, Roche has a general story that is well documented.

>>> Giro d’Italia 2018: Seven key stages that will decide the race

He’s the son of a famous cyclist who, despite spending almost every day of his childhood competing in other sports, eventually followed in his father’s footsteps.

Turning professional with Cofidis, the year after the French team was embroiled in a doping scandal, Roche has literally ridden through cultural and generational change.

“They [Cofidis] had that troubled year in 2004 and there was a lot new things - internal tests - that came in 2005 as a consequence,” he recalls.

“I arrived in this professional world and my first training camp I do all these DNA tests, get my hair cut to see if I was on the party drugs, physical tests too, see a psychologist three times a year.

“It’s not easy seeing a psychologist at 20 when you think you’re perfectly healthy.”

Fast-forward through nine professional victories including two Vuelta a España stage wins, consistent stints as road captain, Grand Tour domestique to now and the 33-year-old is still learning and learning to adapt.

The peloton is more competitive, younger riders take risks that Roche now considers “painful”, and top-15 results don’t guarantee job security.

As RCS Sport charters new territory, taking the Giro to Israel and outside of Europe for the first time, so too will Roche in his career 19th Grand Tour.

The climber in the past has eased into typically long seasons with a view to the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, so was initially reluctant about being called to compete first and maybe foremost at the Giro, which his father, Stephen won in 1987.

“There was no conversation, I got a phone call saying you’re riding the Giro. The first reaction was, ‘Oh,’ and then second reaction was, ‘That’s alright, I’ll prepare for the Giro,’” Roche says.

“I haven’t ridden the Giro in a while but I haven’t ridden the Giro for GC more importantly, so it’s new for me to aim for a race so early in the year.

“In both cases I know it will be good for later on in the year anyway. As in, if I ride the Tour, I know I can perfectly ride the Giro and the Tour and be stronger again. If not, I’ll ride the Vuelta afterwards and know I have a good base to go into that.”

Roche last competed at the Giro with Sky in 2016 where he finished 24th overall. He has flagged a top-10 as an ideal result ahead of the 101st edition in which he’ll pair with eager Australian Rohan Dennis.

“I’m on him this year a little bit,” says BMC Racing sports director Max Sciandri.

“I get on really well with Nico. There are a lot of variables in his character, how he is.

“Before proving something to the team, I think it will be a good thing if he proves something to himself. At this point in his career, it would be good to get a result. That’s what he has in the Giro, a possibility to go for that.”

Dennis, who is a favourite for the opening time trial stage in Israel, arrives on different terms as he makes concerted efforts and advances toward a career as a Grand Tour contender.

“I am going to keep the two guys simple, separate,” Sciandri says.

“I don’t like to work with big lead-outs, like [Chris] Froome has his whole team lined out, or like Richie [Porte] will in the Tour. I keep it low-key in a way that I sign a couple of people to riders, so Rohan will have one or two guys, Nico will have one or two, and after five or six stages we’ll have Etna.”

The general tactical approach should suit Roche’s sensibilities.

“At the end of the day nothing beats your own victory but I get a lot of satisfaction from playing a part in the race. I don’t like sitting in the bunch and waiting to get dropped,” he says.

“A lot of the riders, or the teams, are like that but fair enough. The way modern cycling is now it’s more about following as long as you can than trying to do something.

“Don’t be surprised, you’re watching us on TV, you know that,” he adds with authority.

“It’s big teams that put their tempo down and play their cards. It doesn’t mean they win the race but tactically now it’s about following the strongest team.”

How BMC plays it remains to be seen.

Nicolas Roche will lead American WorldTour team BMC Racing in Il Lombardia on Saturday, the final Monument of the 2017 season.

Irishman Roche describes Il Lombardia as a tough race, as befits its status as one of the most prestigious single-day events in the cycling calendar.

"Il Lombardia is definitely one of the toughest, if not the toughest, one-day races of the year so it would be nice to wrap my season up well," said Roche, who placed fourth behind winner  Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida) at Giro dell’Emilia last Saturday and 14th overall in the Vuelta a España in September.

>>> The Monuments: Cycling’s five biggest one-day races

"Coming out of Giro dell’Emilia with fourth place was a good indication of where my form is at the moment. The two races are quite different and maybe the short, steeper climbs of Giro dell’Emilia are more suited to me but I’m confident I can do another good result on Saturday."

American Tejay van Garderen had originally been mooted as riding Il Lombardia, but his name is missing from BMC's final line-up.

Italian Alessandro De Marchi will provide the squad with another option alongside Roche.

"De Marchi is also looking strong and motivated after the UCI World Championships, and that’s exactly how you need to go into a tough race like Il Lombardia if you want any chance of a good result, you need the legs and you need the motivation,” said BMC sports director Max Sciandri.

Along with Roche and De Marchi, BMC's line-up consists of Damiano Caruso (Italy), Martin Elmiger (Switzerland), Ben Hermans (Belgium), Amaël Moinard (France), Michael Schär (Switzerland) and Manuel Senni (Italy).

Defending champion Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) will not be taking part after fracturing his shoulder blade in Giro dell’Emilia.

>>> Il Lombardia 2017: Latest news and race info

Front runners for the hilly race include Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac), Fabio Aru (Astana), Mikel Landa (Team Sky), Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors), Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) and Steve Cummings (Dimension Data).

The cold weather and rain certainly made a difference in the 2017 Vuelta a España's first high-mountain finish to Calar Alto on stage 11.

Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) slipped from second to third place, losing 2-05 minutes, and Irishman Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) went down from third to 11th, losing 4-17. Chris Froome (Sky) remains on top with the red jersey after 11 stages.

>>> Five talking points from stage 11 of the Vuelta a España

"Those two words exactly, cold and suffering, they characterise my day," Roche said sitting in the team car waiting to descend to his team's hotel.

"I suffer temperature differences. It happened to me already in 2013 in Andorra when it was much more extreme. Today I just felt feeling those very bad with the weather and the difference in temperatures from the last few days and I paid a high price."

His team-mate Tejay van Garderen lost time too. He now sits 12th overall.

"I was well dressed up and the lads are keeping me warm with new arm warmers and rain jacket," Roche added.

"There are riders who suffer in 40 degrees, which I enjoy, but today I suffered more from the cold than just from the rain. The feeling in my legs are just rock hard."

Australian WorldTour team Orica-Scott paced the lead group with Froome. They sent Simon Yates up the road and appeared to be readying a Chaves launch, but he went the other direction instead.

"Yes [Yates was] part of the plan today," Chaves explained when he finished next to the observatory above the Andalusian coast. "We tried to put a plan in place but did not work out today but the important thing is we tried.

"It's really cold for everybody. Like always, the team worked really well. Sometimes you have a plan and the final goes well sometimes it goes bad, but it's important to try. Jack Haig stayed with me and we tried to keep the pace and limit the losses."

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) moved to second overall at 1-19 minutes. Chaves sits third at 2-33.

"I still keep fighting but obviously it's a big blow for the podium chances but still there's time in the Vuelta," Roche continued.

"I always knew today was going to be one of the hardest days. Today wasn't a catastrophe and there's still a lot to be done so I'm going to fight for it."

Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) says that gut-feeling paved the way to the biggest Vuelta a España gain of the day in stage 10 to Alhama de Murcia.

Eyes were on Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Chris Froome (Team Sky) at the stage finish but it was the Irishman who jumped clear to gain 29 seconds and move to within a fraction of a second to second place overall Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott).

"That move was definitely not planned," he told Cycling Weekly spinning away on his trainer after the stage.

His jersey showed the grit and effort of the day, his smile revealed his satisfaction. "I thought why not give it a go and see what happens?"

>>> Wet descent and pine needles on road thwart Vincenzo Nibali's attack on Vuelta a España stage 10

He and Chaves now sit at 36 seconds behind Froome in the overall.

Nibali's Bahrain-Merida team made the pace on the Bermejo climb that topped out 21.8 kilometres to race. As expected, Nibali fired off on the descent.

Roche, who sat third overall at 1-05 minutes behind Froome at the start of the day, remained alert, chasing down Nibali before going on the attack himself.

"I knew Nibali was going to try it and he had his team making a very severe pace there on the climb. As expected, he attacked with about 600 metres to go on the hard bit. I managed to quickly get across. I was in a good position," added Roche.

Watch: Vuelta a España stage 10 highlights

"When I initially went, my plan wasn't to drop everybody but I could see some of the other GC guys far behind."

Roche's move caught the television motorbike by surprise, and while the television showed Froome speaking with Nibali, Roche was powering away.

He finished at 4-03 minutes and heard the line announcer struggling to understand what happened and which BMC rider was appearing.

The group zipped over the line at 4-32. In there were Roche's rivals like Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac), Adam Yates (Orica-Scott), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) – places eighth though 11th overall. Roche's American team-mate Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) sits fifth overall at 1-27.

>>> Five talking points from stage 10 of the Vuelta a España

"Today's move was important for me as we're looking head to the next few days in the high mountains. Every second is very important and so if I could dig deep into the downhill for a few seconds on those other guys further down because you can see everybody's very close," Roche added.

"Yes, Vincenzo and Alberto and, if I think I can call them direct rivals then Wilco Kelderman, Michael Woods and Ilnur Zakarin. But we haven't gone up any real mountains yet and I'm not going to get over excited. I managed to get well around these early steep climbs and tomorrow starts the next test."

After a week of short and steep climbs, the Vuelta heads high tomorrow. Stage 11 climbs 15.5 kilometres to the Calar Alto observatory at 2120 metres.

>>> Chris Froome braced for Alberto Contador attack on stage 11 summit finish at Vuelta a España

"I traditionally like the two kilometre climbs at 20% and not four kilometre ones at 20%. And the same for the other climbs, seven to eight kilometres at 6%, not the 15km climbs at 12%!" Roche added.

"This year, every climb that they put in the Vuelta is a climb that I have to try to work my way around. I want to see how it goes. Like I said I'm in great condition now and it's just about staying focused."

Nicolas Roche says that he will be able to express himself again with team BMC Racing, after two years with his dream team Sky.

Cycling Weekly reported the Roche/BMC deal in July. He leaves Sky after two years of service that included helping Chris Froome win the 2015 Tour de France.

"Now with BMC, I should be happy there," the 32-year-old Irish champion told CW. "It suits me. I'll be able to express myself again as an individual and also to help Richie Porte."

Roche's goal, as with Froome, is to support his captain to a Tour de France win. This year, Australian Porte fought over the final Alpine passes and reached fifth overall.

>>> Nicolas Roche confirmed for BMC for 2017 season

"I was in the hunt for a new adventure," said Roche about his move to BMC.

"BMC gave me a good challenge to help Richie in the Tour and then, I think I'll be able to give it a good go in the Vuelta afterwards."

Porte also rode for Froome and Bradley Wiggins before moving to BMC to lead its Tour de France team. Roche rode in Sky's black colours from 2015 to 2016.

"I always wanted to go to Sky, since the team's debut. I'm an anglophone rider and I needed to ride with Sky. It was a tick in the box and I enjoyed my two years, and now it's time for a new challenge."

Roche believes he will find a mix of racing different to what he had in team Sky and in team Tinkoff, where he worked for Alberto Contador.

"I came from Tinkoff-Saxo, which had a much more aggressive way of attacking," Roche added.

"Sky was more about, 'Let's make the race the way we want the race to happen. If it works, fine, but at least you try to control the race.' It's a different approach. With Tinkoff, it was, 'Where are the weakness and where are we going to attack?' In Sky, 'Where are we not going to get attacked and how are we not going to fail?'

Watch: Team Sky pre-race activation exercises

"It was great to get the two approaches, and hopefully now, I'll be able to bring that on to BMC. Richie already has many experienced riders around him, but I'll add to it."

Roche had his chance to lead Team Sky in the Vuelta and won a stage last year.

>>> Nicolas Roche: Alberto Contador still has a lot to give

"When I signed with Sky two years ago, I said that I wanted to cross the line on the Champs-Élysées with the yellow jersey on my side. That was one of the most emotional days in my career,” he said.

"And my stage win in the Vuelta last year... I came into the Vuelta with a top five in my mind, but then I crashed twice. It took a week to get back. I had to fight mentally, and just to get that was a massive relief. The Vuelta was just not over after the first week. It was massive."

Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) says he believes his former teammate Alberto Contador has past his best, but still has a lot to give in the Grand Tours.

Irish champion Roche spent two years on the Saxo-Tinkoff team with the seven-time Grand Tour winner, who has struggled this season to match his best form, finishing outside the podium at both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. Contador's last Grand Tour victory came in the 2015 Giro d'Italia.

But while Roche admits that the 33-year-old might be past the peak of his abilities, there's plenty more to get from him by his new team Trek-Segafredo, where he'll spend the next two years.

"His best is behind him, but that doesn't mean he hasn't got a lot to give," Roche told Sky Sports.

"I know Alberto well and I know how passionate he is about cycling, and if he decided to carry on for another two years, it's because he believes he has more to show."

Contador has been unable to surpass Roche's current teammate Chris Froome (Team Sky) in recent years, aside from the 2014 Vuelta, and faces more competition from an era of highly talented GC riders like Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), as well as more emerging talents like Esteban Chaves and the Yates brothers at Orica-BikeExchange) and young Frenchman Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale).

Roche says that Contador still has the mental edge though to compete, with a never-say-die attitude one of his strongest attributes.

"One of Alberto's strengths is his mental ability to fight and never give up. When he is in contention, even if it's third, fourth or fifth, you know he is ready to do anything and can still turn a race upside down. You cannot ignore Alberto at this level." Roche said.

32-year-old Roche is also looking to carve some more opportunities for himself at his new team BMC Racing, having spent the last two seasons at Sky playing a support role to Froome.

He'll now move the American squad and hopes to ride in support of Richie Porte at the Tour de France, before getting a shot at the GC in the Vuelta. Roche has won two stages at the Spanish tour in 2013 and 2015, but has also recorded his best ever overall results with sixth in 2010 and fifth in 2013.

Tejay van Garderen or Darwin Atapuma will likely play as competition for the leadership spot in the team

"Hopefully, I will get a proper go at the Vuelta, as team leader or co-leader, depending on what the team's strategy is," Roche said.

"I still believe I can do some strong things there."

Tanel Kangert (Astana) won stage three of the Abu Dhabi Tour, all but sealing the overall classification in the process.

The Estonian broke clear with Nicholas Roche (Tinkoff) on the Jebel Hafeet climb that stage three finished atop, and the pair distanced the rest of the rapidly-reducing peloton.

Kangert then attacked with around 3km to go, just before the climb’s steepest section of 11%, and comfortably held onto win by 17 Seconds.

Next over the line was Eritrean Mekseb Debesay (Dimension Data), who impressively managed to attack a strong looking chase group that still included Tour de France champions Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and Kangert’s Astana teammate Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), and gain enough of a gap to hold on to third.

Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) was unsurprisingly dropped at the foot of the climb, and hands the overall lead of the race to Kangert.

Cavendish will have aimed to have saved as much energy as possible heading into tomorrow’s likely bunch sprint on the Yas Marina F1 circuit.

Despite being set up for a showdown on the final climb, there was also some action earlier in the stage when crosswinds affected the race.

Team Sky sought to capitalise, riding at the front and causing splits in the peloton, although all the big names managed to avoid being caught out.

Their work ensured the day’s break had no chance of succeeding, however, and Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Marco Coledan (Trek-Segafredo) Michael O’Loughlin (Team Wiggins) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) were all reeled in with just over 30km left to ride.

Olympic champion Van Avermaet was not done attacking, however, and went off the front again just prior to the final climb at 14km from the finish, taking soon-to-be BMC Racing teammate Fran Ventoso (Movistar) with him.

The Belgian did manage to drop Ventoso, but was again caught by the peloton on the lower slopes of the Jebel Hafeet.

The peloton thinned out considerably when the riders started climbing, and had been reduced to less than a dozen riders by the time an attack from Carlos Verona (Orica-BikeExchange) had been neutralised.

By the time they reached the summit, the leaders were in groups of just ones and twos, with Kangert proving the strongest.

With stage four taking place on the pan flat Yas Marina circuit, and holding a substantial lead of 21 seconds ahead of second overall Roche, Kangert should wrap up the overall victory without any trouble.

Result

Abu Dhabi Tour, stage three: Al Ain to Jebel Hafeet, 150km

1 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana in 3-31-31

2 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Tinkoff at 17secs

3 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data at 33secs

4 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida at same time

5 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff at 50secs

6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana at same time

7 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo at 52secs

8 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC at 1-19

9 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Giant-Alpecin at 1-28

10 Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff at same time

Overall classification after stage three

1 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana in 9-19-44

2 Nicholas Roche (Irl) Tinkoff at 21secs

3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida at 43secs

4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana at 1-00

5 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff at same time

6 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo at 1-02

7 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC at 1-29

8 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Giant-Alpecin at 1-28

9 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar at

10 Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff both at same time

Nicolas Roche, Irish champion in both the road race and time trial, will race for BMC in 2017, confirming that he will leave Team Sky after two seasons.

The American outfit will be Roche's sixth top tier team in his 12-year career, having started at Cofidis and also ridden for Credit Agricole, Ag2r La Mondiale and Tinkoff-Saxo before arriving at Team Sky in 2015.

He helped Chris Froome to Tour de France glory in his first season and also won a stage of the Vuelta a España in the same year. This season he finished second at the Tour de Yorkshire and ninth at this weekend's Clasica San Sebastian.

"Nicolas brings a wealth of experience and is exactly the sort of rider we are looking for to support our Grand Tour ambitions and work for his own personal objectives. A lot of our goals are centred around Grand Tours and we felt we needed an additional rider who could bring us experience in that field," BMC general manager Jim Ochowicz explained.

>>> Cycling transfers 2017: All the ins and outs from the WorldTour

Roche rode seven consecutive Tours de France between 2009 and 2015, finishing 12th for Ag2r in 2012. The Irishman Grand Tour credentials were cemented with top-10 finishes in the Vuelta in 2010 and 2013.

"I'm super excited because BMC is a team that rides with a lot of the characteristics that I like. They're always up the front, riding with aggression and trying to make an exciting race. I think I'll enjoy the aggressive style of racing," Roche said.

"Looking ahead to the 2017 season, my main role will be to really support Richie Porte and Tejay van Garderen in their general classification ambitions, and hopefully I'll have a good go at the Vuelta a Espãna."

Irishman Nicolas Roche will leave Team Sky after two seasons and join BMC Racing in 2017, say inside sources.

Roche supported Chris Froome at last year's Tour de France and Vuelta a España. He went on to win a stage in the Vuelta, stage 18 to Riaza, after Froome abandoned with a broken foot bone.

The 32-year-old, son of Stephen Roche, will likely support Richie Porte in his bid to win the 2017 Tour de France. The American WorldTour team in red and black should announce the new contract sometime next month when, according to UCI rules, teams may officially sign riders.

This year, Roche won both the Irish time trial and road race championships. He rode the Giro d'Italia in support of Sky leader Mikel Landa and helped Mikel Nieve win a stage and the blue mountains jersey after Landa abandoned sick.

Czech Leopold König, who joined Sky after placing seventh in the Tour de France in 2014, is set to return to team Bora-Argon 18. Italian Salvatore Puccio could join Vincenzo Nibali in the new Bahrain team. Spaniard Xabier Zandio will end his career this season.

>>> More details revealed as new Bahrain Cycling Team officially announced

The British WorldTour team is firming up its 2017 roster with a new contract for Froome's mountain helper Sergio Henao. It already confirmed Geraint Thomas will continue in its black and blue colours. Mikel Nieve and Wout Poels will remain with Team Sky, as well.

Watch: Show us your scars - Stephen Roche

Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe and Michal Kwiatkowski all have existing contracts through 2017 and will lead the team's one-day charge from Milan-San Remo to Paris-Roubaix. Poels, of course, won Sky's first monument, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in April.

Kwiatkowski will not only have Michal Golas, but another Polish team-mate if Lukasz Wisniowski leaves Etixx-QuickStep as reported.

Not all national champions kits turn out well (just take a look at Tinkoff's current designs for Rafal Majka and Roman Kreuziger), but Team Sky have done a pretty decent job over the years of keeping it fairly classy.

That's predominantly been through British national champions, from Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas in 2010 through to Peter Kennaugh's particularly elegant looking kit last year.

Despite no British champ in this year's roster after Adam Blythe (Tinkoff) took the win in Stockton-on-Tees in June, they've still got Nicolas Roche, who seriously impressed by taking both the national road race and time trial titles of Ireland for 2016/17.

Sky revealed designs of Roche's new Rapha national champs kit on Twitter on Monday, with a generally positive reception. There's no Irish colours around the torso, but a green hoop with a shamrock and the Irish colours on the sleeve.

We'll assume there's no white shorts here based on Sky's track record, with the white base of the jersey set to complemented with some black bibs.

The team also revealed the colours of their other national champ, Czech time trial champion Leopold König. It's a fairly straightforward design to the skinsuit, with a white top and black bottoms with the Czech national colours.

Roche is set to debut is new colours in the Tour of Poland, which starts on Tuesday, while König will have to wait until the final stage to show off his new skinsuit.

Veteran Frenchman Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) won the 2016 Tour de Yorkshire overall on Sunday, after claiming the final stage victory.

Voeckler had followed Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) as the Irishman had attacked on the day's final climb of Oliver's Mount. The two rode together on the descent into Scarborough, with Roche unable to match Voeckler's sprint to the line.

Voeckler's win propelled him to the top of the general classification, with Roche settling for second overall at six seconds. Frenchman Anthony Turgis (Cofidis) was third at 16 seconds.

Top-placed British rider overall was Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) in fourth after he placed third on the final stage.

>>> Tour de Yorkshire 2016: Latest news, reports and info

Roche had originally instigated the race-winning break when he attacked on the Harwood Dale climb with 25km to go in the final 20km of the long 196km stage from Middlesbrough. He was joined by Yates and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), with Voeckler and Turgis bridging to them after a furious chase.

The five rode together until the Oliver's Mount climb, when Roche went clear followed by Voeckler. The three chasing riders could not catch them as they skirted around the Scarborough sea front, with Voeckler opening up his sprint early to take the win.

Earlier in the day, a 10-rider escape group had led the action during the first 110km before getting caught. Sky then hit the front of the peloton, with Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) doing a huge pace-making turn, just as he had done on the previous two stages.

Kennaugh's efforts whittled the peloton down severely, with only around 25 riders left with 45 hilly kilometres to go. At several points Sky riders split off from the front of the lead group before being caught, signalling the team's intention to dictate the stage.

In the end, though, Voeckler's race experience came through, with a perfectly-timed effort to seal the win in the second edition of the Tour de Yorkshire having placed third in 2015's inaugural race.

Australian Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) took the King of the Mountains win.

Watch: Tour de Yorkshire 2016 stage two highlights

Tour de Yorkshire 2016 result

Stage three: Middlesbrough to Scarborough, 196km

1. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie

2. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky at same time

3. Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge at 9 secs

4. Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis

5. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo at same time

6. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky at 41 secs

7. Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky at same time

8. Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge at 1-09

9. Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing

10. Nikias Arndt (Bel) Giant-Alpecin at same time

Final overall classification

1. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie

2. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky at 6 secs

3. Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis at 16 secs

4. Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge at 17 secs

5. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo at 21 secs

6. Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky at 52 secs

7. Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky at 53 secs

8. Nikias Arndt (Bel) Giant-Alpecin at 1-13

9. Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data at 1-20

10. Dion Smith (NZl) One Pro Cycling at 1-21

Nicolas Roche's early-season preparations hit another setback this week as he was forced to visit hospital after a second spider bite became infected.

The Irish Team Sky pro joked on Twitter that he would be auditioning for the part of Spiderman after being bitten twice in two unconnected incidents just weeks apart - and ending up in hospital for treatment on both occasions.

>>> Nicolas Roche’s training interrupted by hospital visit after infected spider bite

Roche posted up a picture of the nasty-looking bite, which had turned into an open wound, saying: "Really considering going for casting of spider[man] 6 ... Have not been climbing up the walls yet... #noluck #incredible."

Roche was first bitten in Australia in mid-November after his honeymoon, and ended up in hospital in Singapore while attending a corporate event after the bite on his forearm became infected.

The 31-year-old subsequently missed four days of training as a result of the bite. Roche told Cycling Weekly at the time: "It was a bit of a scare. My hand blew-up like a balloon and I didn’t know what was happening."

Roche enjoyed a solid debut season with Team Sky in 2015, claiming the team's only stage win in the Vuelta a España after assisting Chris Froome to overall victory in the Tour de France. His 2016 race schedule has yet to be confirmed.

Nicolas Roche has resumed pre-season training in Australia after suffering from an infected spider bite that required treatment in Singapore.

The Team Sky rider was bitten on the arm 10 days ago at the Gold Coast in Queensland where he began preparations for 2016 on the back of a honeymoon in Bora Bora.

The wound became infected when the Irishman travelled to Singapore for a corporate event shortly afterwards.

“When I was in Singapore I had to go to hospital a couple of times to have a look at it and get it taken care of,” Roche told Cycling Weekly in a phone interview.

“It was a bit of a scare. My hand blew-up like a balloon and I didn’t know what was happening.

“In hospital they were not very encouraging either,” he added. “They never tell you how good or how bad it is, they try to stay as neutral as possible, but I think they were as worried as I was.”

Roche re-commenced training on Monday following the unwelcome encounter that set him back four days.

The 31-year-old has travelled to Australia on the suggestion of Team Sky head of athlete performance Tim Kerrison, who is originally from nearby Brisbane.

Roche is receptive to warmer climates and a one-month block here, with wife Deborah, worked in nicely with the southern hemisphere honeymoon.

“It’s not something that I would do again but I thought that this was the year to do it. Normally I travel so much through the year that I try and stay at home in Monaco [outside of competition],” he said.

>>> Which Team Sky rider rode the furthest in 2015? All is revealed

“I’ve always wanted to try and do a winter in Australia. It’s something different and also, in a way, a good excuse to have a month away from Europe. Even though I’m going out training in the morning, I still feel as though I’m on an extended honeymoon.”

Roche has earned the mental reprieve following an involved debut with Team Sky this year. He assisted Richie Porte to multiple stage race titles before aiding Chris Froome to a career second Tour de France victory in July. The former Irish national road champion then capitalised on freedom granted at the Vuelta a España, claiming Sky’s only scalp at the race in stage 18.

Roche is yet to determine his 2016 schedule but foresees himself fulfilling a similar role with the British squad.

The climber has also outlined aims at the Rio Olympics where his ability to thrive in the heat and get better throughout the season will be advantageous for the men’s hilly road race.

Watch: Top 10 best riders right now

“In the back of my mind it would be great to do the Tour, Olympics and then come back for the Tour of Spain,” he said.

“It’s usually those three months where I go the best and I just hope I’ll be able to make the most of them.

“The Olympics will definitely be one of the big goals for me next year.”

Roche will be especially vigilant for spiders as he trains in Australia for another week before reconnecting with Sky team-mates and staff at a December camp.

Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) neutralised Fabio Aru's (Astana) every move on a thrilling stage 18 of the Vuelta a España, hanging on to his three second advantage over the Italian into the race's final three stages.

Nicolas Roche (Team Sky), part of the large breakaway, outsprinted Trek's Haimar Zubeldia for the stage win as the group of general classification favourites crossed the line together 38 seconds later.

It wasn't for the lack of trying on Aru's part, though, with the Astana rider attacking numerous times on the first category climb that came with 35km to race, but Dumoulin was not to be shaken from his wheel

Sitting 1-15 down on Dumoulin, Joaquim Rodriguez's need to attack is much more severe than Aru's and the Spaniard attempted to go up the road with Katusha teammate Angel Vicioso at at the start of the climb but to no avail.

Shortly after that attack Astana ramped up the pace in the peloton in an attempt to shake off Dumoulin's support riders and leave him isolated before the final climb.

Meanwhile up ahead, Europcar's Cyril Gautier, leaving for Ag2r La Mondiale at the end of the season, was staking his claim for the stage win by attacking off the breakaway group. That charge was later taken up by Roche, who was joined by Zubeldia over the top of the climb to start the descent towards the finish.

Back on the ascent, though, Aru tried time and time again to attack Dumoulin, but the Dutchman was not to be moved as if he was attached to the Italian's bike by a rope.

With 19km to go, 15km to go and then near the top of the climb Aru got out of the saddle to try and pull away, but the red jersey was never far from his back wheel.

On the descent Roche and Zubeldia increased their lead to nearly a minute as Dumoulin, Aru, Quintana and co matched each other on the downhill.

With 5km to go the roads flattened out, with Dumoulin even finding himself a couple of dozen metres ahead of Aru at one point. Instead of eeking out more seconds on the Italian, Dumoulin instead sat up and waited to settle behind Aru's wheel once more.

Even at the finish, after Roche settled the stage, Aru put his foot on the gas but Dumoulin nonchalantly wheeled over the line immediately after him to cross off another stage and take the race into the final three days.

Vuelta a España stage 18, Roa - Riaza (204km)

1. Nicolas Roche (Ire) Team Sky, 5-03-59

2. Haimar Zubeldia (Esp) Trek, st

3. Jose Goncalves (Esp) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA, at 18s

4. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 38s

5. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, st

6. Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, st

7. Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx-Quick Step, st

8. Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, st

9. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx-Quick Step, st

10. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale, st

Overall standings after 18 stages

1. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, 73-45-13

2. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, at 3s

3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, at 1-15

4. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, at 2-22

5. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, at 2-53

6. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 3-15

7. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, at 3-30

8. Dani Moreno (Esp) Katusha, at 3-46

9. Mikel Nieve (Esp) Astana, at 4-10

10. Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka, at 6-10

At the start of Vuelta a España, few would have predicted Nicholas Roche to have been Team Sky’s highest ranked rider, in fourth overall, four places and eleven seconds ahead of Tour de France champion Chris Froome.

But the team’s usual single-minded approach in Grand Tours of putting everything towards the aim of winning the overall with their team leader has been relaxed for this Vuelta, granting Roche the freedom to, at least to some extent, ride for himself.

First he was let off the leash on stage two, where he set off in pursuit of Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on the finishing climb. Then he was not asked to hold back and help Froome when he was dropped on stage six’s uphill finish, instead attacking himself in search of a stage victory.

And on Monday, upon crashing, a trio of domestiques were instructed to briefly abandon their post of looking out for Froome, and sent to pace Roche back into the bunch.

All this suggests that Sky aren’t putting all their eggs in one basket. Unlike at the Tour, where months of planning and preparation went into Froome’s bid for yellow, Sky are willing to offer some degree of leeway for its riders’ personal ambitions, and Roche looks like one of the main beneficiaries of that.

When Roche moved to Sky at the start of the season, there were fears he would become just another cog in the team’s well-oiled machine. Throughout his career the Irishman has made a name for himself as an exciting, attacking climber, happier when out in front looking for stage wins rather than sitting passively in the peloton.

Prior to the Vuelta, it seemed as though those fears were well-founded. Roche had hardly been able to ride for himself, only finishing in the top ten of a race on one occasion (the Tour stage won by Simon Geschke) and generally riding in a domestique role. Therefore it has come as a relief to see Sky allow the 31-year old some scope to express himself this past week.

The question now begs - how high can he ultimately finish at the Vuelta? So far his race has played out notably similar to the 2013 Vuelta, where he won the opening road stage and spent the rest of a hilly opening week in the top three overall. Although he did falter somewhat on the serious climbs in the second half of the race, he did hold on to seal fifth overall, is highest Grand Tour finish.

A repeat performance seems unlikely, however, given that Froome’s second place finish on stage nine will have cemented his status as overall leader. There will be occasions in the coming stages when Roche will have to sacrifice himself - especially given the calibre of the other GC hopefuls - and such commitments has seen other Sky super-domestiques like Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte lose top ten placings on GC in other Grand Tours.

Watch Cycling Weekly's guide to the 2015 Vuelta

Then again, with the likes of Sergio Henao and Mikel Nieve on board and riding well there won’t be so much pressure on Roche to take all the burden of responsibility, and this season alone has seen both Astana at the Giro and Movistar at the Tour place two riders on the podium.

Roche undoubtedly has the talent to pull off another top ten finish - possibly even a top five - and Sky seem willing to appease hopes of pulling it off, at least to an extent. Wednesday's queen stage will be key.

Sky's Nicolas Roche has twice had chances to win stages in the 2015 Vuelta a España, which began this week in southern Spain. The first chance was on the second day and then again today with the uphill kick to reach Vejer de la Frontera with its views of the Atlantic Ocean and Tangier. It is "a bit more freedom" than he had last month when he helped Chris Froome win the Tour de France.

Roche marked former Olympic champion, Samuel Sánchez (BMC) and attacked on his own today in stage four. With 175 metres remaining to the finish line, the group led by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was breathing down his neck.

"There is a bit more freedom than in the Tour, we have Mikel Nieve, Sergio Henao and myself on the climbs, so I have a little bit more freedom in these first few short climbs," Roche said after catching his breath.

>>> Five talking points from stage four of the Vuelta a España

"In the Tour, it's quite different, you can't afford to lose any energy, you need to have the strongest rider and the strongest team around him. In the Vuelta a España or the Giro d'Italia, you can play you cards a bit differently, and it's great the team is letting me go with the flow on these short climbs."

Roche, like in the Tour, should be one of Froome's main helpers when the Vuelta reaches the high mountain stages. Already on Friday, it climbs up to 1565 metres to finish in La Alpujarra.

The next big mountain day is towards the end of the second week, when the race reaches the country's north. Also in store, and to Froome's advantage, is a 38.7-kilometre time trial to Burgos.

"Froome's ready, at this stage, if he wasn't ready, he would've done another programme," Roche added.

"I strongly believe that the Vuelta is right for him, a perfect TT for him. I know it's in two weeks, a long way to get there, but I think that TT is really suited to him.

"Even if he was only at 90 per cent, he is still Chris Froome, twice winner of the Tour de France."

Roche crossed the line for an eventual fourth today behind winner Valverde, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Daniel Moreno (Katusha).

"I thought I'd chance it. These are the types of finishes that I usually like. I thought I'd make the most of my form," he said.

"When I saw Samuel go, I thought that this is great and I'd get a head start on the last kicker. I looked back at 175m to go, could just feel the air coming through."

Down the hill at the Sky bus, Froome climbed onboard to shower. Both he and Principal David Brailsford were unavailable when asked if they could comment on the day and the riders' roles in the Vuelta a España.

Chris Froome gave Sky team-mate Nicolas Roche the green light to go for the first summit finish of the Vuelta a España today to Caminito del Rey, safe in the knowledge that would hold his ground with his general classification rivals.

Roche previewed the 4.7-kilometre climb in Spain's south in training, knew every corner and rise, and picked his moment to attack his rivals Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).

His chances of winning the stage, however, were compromised by a mistake.

"I forgot one of the switchbacks. There was a small bit, a drag up, with 500 or 300 to go, then I thought it would flatten out again. It didn't though — it went hard again, and so that was it for me," Roche explained after the finish.

He placed third. Colombian Chaves countered his attack at 500 metres out and held off Dumoulin for the stage win and red leader's jersey.

"When I went, I thought I was going to go there and give it my all. I thought I could do what I did two years ago [to win the stage]. I thought, 'Yeah, cool, I'm in again!'

"In the back of my mind, I thought, I'd give it all and get a gap to hold it. Chaves was very quick to react, and then went straight away and that left me there. When he went, that was it. My card was played."

Nairo Quintana (Movistar), second place at the Tour de France behind Froome, placed 36 seconds back. Froome crossed the line at 40 seconds. Nibali, who chased back after a crash, finished at 1-38 minutes and was later disqualified for holding onto a team car.

The next three stages through the south of Spain are flat. The overall favourites must now hold fire until Thursday, when the sixth stage finishes on a small uphill to Sierra de Cazorla.

"With four kilometres to go, Chris told me, 'Nico, follow the attacks if you want,'" said Roche.

"The big guys can afford to give me or whoever 30 or 40 seconds at this stage in the race. It's an extremely hard Vuelta."

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.

Roche describes how he flew over the handlebars into a group of spectators before finding himself in a flowerbed. At which point, Team Sky mechanic Gary Blem turned his hand to horticulture in order to get the Irishman's bike back on the road.

Roche wrote: "I tried to control my skid but couldn't stop my wheel hitting the kerb, where I was catapulted over the handlebars and onto the stunned spectators, who broke my fall a little bit before we all landed in a heap in the flowers. I uprooted myself from the flowerbed just as our mechanic Gary arrived alongside me.

"Gary pulled a few flowers out of my brake levers and cleaned my handlebars while I wiped the peat moss off my team kit and gave myself a quick once-over.

"Apart from my pride though, I wasn't hurt and I hope none of the spectators were either."

Roche is a key part of Chris Froome's entourage at the Tour de France and the Irishman's job will to guide the 2013 winner up the high mountains alongside the likes of Leopold Konig and Richie Porte.

Roche joined Sky from Tinkoff-Saxo at the start of the season, having helped guide Alberto Contador to fourth overall in the 2013 Tour.

Chris Froome is relaxed and cool compared to a jittery and analytic Alberto Contador, says a rider who has worked alongside both of them.

Nicolas Roche, now of Team Sky, rode for Contador before switching over to Froome’s side for the Tour de France, which starts tomorrow in Utrecht.

"Chris Froome is relaxed and focused – you see it in the way he races. Alberto is always worried about making the most of opponents' weaknesses, where Froome is more confident in his own capabilities and just tries to ride off," Roche explained.

"Froome thinks more about his own ride rather than planning through attacking. You've seen it many times – riders attack and Froome keeps his tempo. Alberto sees his opponents having trouble on a wet descent and he puts the hammer down."

The Irishman lined up with Contador in the 2013 and 2014 editions of the Tour de France, but this year he is part of Sky's nine-man Tour roster.

Several other riders and staff have switched between teams Tinkoff and Sky. Froome's main helper, Richie Porte, assisted Contador to grand tour wins and Michael Rogers, now with Tinkoff, helped Bradley Wiggins win the 2013 Tour.

Contador's tactical genius has helped him win races when the odds were against him. In 2012, after coming back from a doping suspension, he turned the tables on Joaquím Rodríguez in a long attack and took control of the Vuelta a España for an eventual win.

If Froome is unable to shake Contador and feels at risk as the race makes its way towards Paris, he could draw on Roche's experience to beat Contador.

"I can't compare Chris to when he won the Tour in 2013 – I wasn't there – but he is in good shape and really confident," said Roche.

"Chris is going to attack and he believes that he can attack and drop him. That's why the team is balanced with riders like Richie who know how to put on the pressure. Froome then can do it on his own on the climbs."

Froome himself says he is confident he can win a second Tour.

"I've no doubt Alberto is in amazing shape after winning the Giro d'Italia," he said. "He set himself the big task of the double: that's a big challenge for him and it's going to be interesting to see how he pulls up in the third week given he's already got a Grand Tour in his legs this season.

"I've been here, I've done this now a few times. I'm getting into the routine. It doesn't feel like such a burden having pressure any more. Certainly not coming in as defending champion I've got everything to race for this year.

“Everyone's just looking forward to getting it started now.”

A crash cut Froome's title defence ride short in 2014. He said that from the moment he left in stage five, he began thinking about returning to win in 2015.

He did all he needed to do to be ready, including winning early season stage races, the Ruta del Sol and the Critérium du Dauphiné. Now, with the help of some of Contador's former guard, he will take aim at cycling's current grand tour king and another Tour title.

Team Sky has announced the signing of five riders for the 2015 season: Nicolas Roche from Tinkoff-Saxo, Leopold Konig from NetApp-Endura, Lars Petter Nordhaug from Belkin, and Andy Fenn and Wout Poels from Omega Pharma-QuickStep.

Irishman Roche, 30, joins the team after a solid 2014 campaign that saw him claim overall honours at the Route du Sud, and finish fifth overall in the Tour of Britain.

"It’s a great honour to sign for Team Sky and I have the opportunity to ride with some of the best riders in the world," said Roche. "I feel that I’m still developing as a rider so now’s the perfect time to join Team Sky and to continue my upwards path. I’m confident that under the guidance of Sir Dave Brailsford and the team, I’ll continue to improve."

British rider Andy Fenn, 24, joins the team in a support role for the spring classics, and to develop further after his opening years as a professional with the Belgian Omega Pharma team. Junior Paris-Roubaix 2008 winner Fenn becomes the team's first Scottish signing.

Czech rider Leopold Konig impressed at this year's Tour de France, where he placed seventh overall for Professional Continental-level team NetApp-Endura. Dutchman Wout Poels has a number of stage wins to his name in the Tour of Britain, Vuelta al Pais Vasco and Tour de Luxembourg, and ridden in all three Grand Tours. Norwegian Nordhaug rejoins the squad have spent two years at Belkin.

"We’ve signed five quality riders for next season and each one of them will help strengthen and enhance the squad," said Sky team principal Dave Brailsford.

"We’ve always set our standards high and been very ambitious with our goals. We want to win the biggest races and constantly improve as a team and these new riders have the proven experience and developing talent to perform now and in the future."

Sky recently announced that British riders Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas had re-signed with the team through to the end of the 2016 season. Edvald Boasson Hagen leaves the team to join MTN-Qhubeka.

Ben Swift signs to Team Sky for two more years

Yorkshireman Ben Swift extends with British WorldTour outfit Sky for two more years

Boasson Hagen leaves Sky for MTN-Qhubeka

Geraint Thomas signs up with Team Sky until end of 2016

Bradley Wiggins' future at Sky uncertain after he says track is a priority

Team Sky's Dave Brailsford tells Cycling Weekly that they are in discussion with Bradley Wiggins' management team

Irishman Nicolas Roche gave his pre-Tour de France morale a big boost on Sunday, claiming the overall win in the Route du Sud in France.

The Tinkoff-Saxo rider's victory in the three-day race is his first stage race overall win in a 10-year career. Roche set up the win by claiming Saturday's stage, finishing with an ascent of Val Louron.

Movistar's Tour de France hope Alejandro Valverde was second overall at 45 seconds, with Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo) in third at 49 seconds.

“It was a magnificent feeling crossing the finish line taking my very first GC win after three days of very hard racing," said Roche.

"It was enjoyable experiencing my teammates so dedicated and determined to support me and of course, this is their victory as well. Surely, this was a confident booster before taking on Tour de France in a couple of weeks so obviously, I’m looking forward to it."

Roche was fifth overall in the Vuelta a Espana in September last year, and won stage two. He rode in the Giro d'Italia in May, but a crash on stage six saw him lose time and he finished the race in a disappointing 30th position overall.

"The low point of the three weeks was my crash in Montecassino on stage six, where I slid along the ground at 75kph and bounced over the kerb of a roundabout," Roche write on his blog after the Giro.

"Although it gave me an initial scare, I was super lucky not to break anything. I think mentally that day I was a bit disillusioned as I knew my GC hopes had gone."

Roche will accompany Tinkoff-Saxo's main general classification contender Alberto Contador at the Tour de France when it starts in Leeds, Yorkshire, on Saturday July 5.

Michael Rogers enlisted to support Nicolas Roche in Giro title assault

Nicolas Roche attacks to win Vuelta a Espana stage two

Vuelta a Espana 2013, stage two: Nicolas Roche takes solo victory in race's first mountain-top finish; Vincenzo Nibali takes overall