CYCLING:TODAY'S FINAL mountain stage of the Vuelta a España is crucial to Nicolas Roche's aspiration for a place in the top-five.
The Irish professional moved up a place to seventh yesterday after finishing 16th on the stage to Toledo and gaining six seconds on his closest rival Tom Danielson.
Roche crossed the line nine seconds behind the dominant winner Philippe Gilbert, who outsprinted Tyler Farrar on the climb to the finish and grabbed the win.
“It was a very nice finish, very technical,” the Belgian said.
“I got big help from my team to take the right position just before the climb. There were some attacks from different riders but I decided to stay calm and wait for the sprint.”
Roche’s time gain over Danielson moved him a place above the American, meaning he will start today’s penultimate stage with a two-second advantage over his rival. The time difference is not much but he has had two good stages since his tough time trial performance and his morale is once again on the up.
Today’s 172.1km to Bola del Mundo scales four categorised climbs, including the gruelling ascent up to the finish, 2,250m above sea level. Tomorrow’s final leg in Madrid will almost certainly be a bunch finish, and so Roche knows if he is to advance in the general classification, he has to do it today.
He is 13 seconds off fifth place and just 16 off fourth. If he finishes better than ninth overall, he will be Ireland’s highest finisher in a three-week tour since Seán Kelly won the Vuelta 22 years ago.
The Italian Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas leads overall, and bolstered his advantage over Ezequiel Mosquera yesterday when the latter lost 12 seconds in that hectic finale. The two are now 50 seconds apart, giving Nibali an additional cushion prior to the big showdown.
Meanwhile, Philip Lavery heads into today’s final stage of the Tour of Britain in an encouraging 24th place. The 20-year-old is on a trial with the An Post Grant Thornton M Donnelly Sean Kelly team, and has shown that he can ride well against some of the world’s top pro teams.
Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) won yesterday’s flat, fast stage to Colchester, while Michael Albasini (HTC Columbia) retains the overall lead.
Team Ireland’s Seán Downey had bike problems after a rider crashed into him from behind, but was able to rejoin the field.
