CYCLING:NICOLAS ROCHE continued his progression up the general classification of the Tour de France this weekend, advancing to 13th overall as the race crossed through the Massif Central.

Although Roche is not yet back to top form, he has improved steadily in recent days. On Friday he advanced from 23rd to 18th when several key contenders either crashed out or delayed.

He then rose to 14th overall when he placed 19th at Saturday’s uphill finish at Super Besse, and moved up one place yesterday when he finished 17th into Saint-Flour.

Roche was, however, a little frustrated as he was unable to hang onto some of the key race contenders in the final uphill push to the finish line.

A gap opened inside the final kilometre and he conceded eight seconds to riders like Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto), defending champion Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank SunGard) and double runner-up Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek).

As he stated afterwards, the time gap is not that much, but it was frustrating psychologically in advance of the bigger mountains ahead. He said it was a little inattention on his part which caused it.

“The split was more due to a lack of concentration rather than anything else. I was trying to save energy, but realised then that was a split and had to try to close it. I was going pretty much full gas then; I don’t think being better placed would have got me a top-10 place, but I would have avoided the split and losing time.”

Roche recognises that his form is gradually improving, and now has a rest day today to gather his energies before the tougher next part of the Tour.

“I hope the break will do me good. My girlfriend is coming here and I will take it really easy tomorrow, giving myself a chance to recover.”