Nicolas Roche has accepted that his form at the start of his 2014 season will be affected by a knee injury which has put him temporarily off the bike, with the Irish rider being told by doctors last week that he had to give his leg a complete rest to heal.
The Vuelta a España stage winner hurt his knee at his Tinkoff Saxo team’s training camp in November, straining it doing off-bike exercises in Gran Canaria.
He initially didn’t think the issue was too serious, but over time he realised this wasn’t the case.
"I continued training on it, not realising the gravity of the situation," he told The Irish Times yesterday. "But after two weeks things weren't getting any better, they were getting worse."
Roche explained that the tendon connecting his quadriceps muscle to his knee has been torn. He said that previous damage to his cruciate ligament while playing soccer as a teenager means that the joint is weaker than would otherwise be the case. While this is not an issue with the smooth motion of pedalling, it means he is more vulnerable off the bike.
“I think lesson one is to stick to cycling, don’t do any other sports at all!” he said yesterday, half-joking.
Roche will have another week to 10 days off the bike, then will get back on the bike and start building things up gradually.
Despite the disruption, he is determined to go to the team's next training camp in January.
Build up again
"I obviously won't do the six to seven hour spins that the other riders are doing. I just have to build up again over time," he said.
"But it will be good to be in the environment of the team setting, and the physio is going to be there so I can get more treatment." His big goal in the first half of the year remains the Giro d'Italia, which begins in Belfast and will have a total of three stages in Ireland. Fortunately he doesn't think the injury will affect his chances of riding well.
“For sure I will be struggling in January, but I think if I work hard and am serious, I should be okay,” he said.
“It is never the best situation when you get injured, but it is not the end of the world. It is still two and a half months before Tirreno-Adriatico and four months before the Giro.”
