Cycling:Riding well on the mountains in the final two stages of the race, Nicolas Roche finished an excellent fifth overall in the Tour of the Mediterranean yesterday.

The Irishman got his competitive debut with Team Saxo Tinkoff off to a good start. He finished eighth in Thursday’s time trial, ending the day in the same position overall, then improved three places in the general classification on Saturday when he was ninth to the top of Mont Faron.

He then defended his overall position on yesterday’s aggressive final leg, netting thirteenth on a stage won by Jürgen Roelandts (Lotto-Belisol). He ended the race 20 seconds behind the overall winner Thomas Löfkvist (IAM Cycling).

He will take encouragement from his performance as it shows he is starting on a good basis as he builds towards his first big goal of the season, next month’s Paris-Nice.