Nicolas Roche finished a strong 14th on yesterday’s final stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe in France, sprinting across the line in the same time as the day’s winner Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare). The Irish pro said afterwards that he was frustrated with the result, feeling that a higher placing would have been possible had one of his fellow Crédit Agricole riders not obstructed his progress.
“I was away with four on the last climb,” he told Irishcycling.com. “We were caught three kilometres from the finish. My team-mate messed me up in the sprint, boxing me in. I’m not happy at all.”
Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle H3O) finished 50 seconds back in 53rd place.
Roche was a very solid 21st overall in the 2.1-ranked event, ending the four day race 38 seconds behind the winner Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom). Martin was 68th, 8 minutes and 19 seconds back. He spent the last two stages riding for his team-mate Christian Vande Velde, who won Wednesday’s time trial and moved up into second overall. Vande Velde was ultimately unable to overtake former Tour de France maillot jaune Voeckler, finishing four seconds back in second overall.
----------
Circuit Cycliste Sarthe - Pays de la Loire (2.1), France, April 8-11:
Stage 4 - April 11: Saint-Léonard-des-Bois - Le Mans:
1, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare) 188.5 kilometres in 4 hours 28 mins 24 secs (42.139 km/h)
2, Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel)
3, Stéphane Bonsergent (Bretagne - Armor Lux)
4, Thierry Hupond (Skil-Shimano)
5, Mikhaylo Khalilov (Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce)
6, Maurizio Biondo (Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce) all same time
Other:
14, Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole ) same time
53, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 50 secs
Final general classification:
1, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) 16 hours 29 mins 33 secs
2, Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 4 secs
3, Tiziano dall'Antonia (CSF Group Navigare) at 11 secs
4, Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux) at 14 secs
5, Stef Clement (Bouygues Telecom) at 16 secs
6, Pierre Rolland (Crédit Agricole) at 18 secs
Irish:
21, Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole) at 38 secs
68, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 8 mins 19 secs
Points classification:
1, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare) 73 pts
2, Mikhaylo Khalilov (Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce) 42
3, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) 39
1, Pierre Rolland (Crédit Agricole)
2, Rein Taaramae (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone) at 2 secs
3, Jérôme Coppel (Française des Jeux) at 9 secs
Irish:
14, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 8 min 1 sec
Team classification:
1, Francaise Des Jeux, 49 hours 30 mins 5 secs
2, CSF Group Navigare, at 2 secs
3, Credit Agricole, at 7 secs
4, Cofidis,Le Credit Par Telephone, at 11 secs
5, Astana, at 15 secs
6, Ceramica Flamina Bossini Doce, at 29 secs
Other:
12, Slipstream Chipotle, at 1 min 7 secs
---------
10/4/08 ROCHE 31ST IN FRANCE
Nicolas Roche finished 31st on today’s third stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe in France, crossing the line in the same time as stage winner Mikhaylo Khalilov (Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce).
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare) was second in the bunch gallop to the line in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe, with Lilian Jégou (Française des Jeux) placing third.
Roche’s fellow Irishman and cousin Daniel Martin (Team Slipstream) was 88th, conceding 6 minutes and 38 seconds.
Yesterday saw two stages take place. The first of these was a 99.8 kilometre road race from Varades to Angers, won by Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone). Roche was three seconds down in 29th place, with Martin also finishing in this time in 63rd place.
The afternoon leg was a nine kilometre time trial based in and around Angers. Martin’s team-mate Christian Vande Velde covered the distance in ten minutes flat, beating Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux) by a comfortable ten seconds. French rider Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) finished twelfth, twenty seconds back, and ended the day with a one-second lead over Vande Velde.
Roche was 39th, 34 seconds back, while Martin was a further 13 seconds down in 58th place.
The Crédit Agricole rider gave his reaction to the two stages yesterday evening. “We messed up the finish on the morning stage – there were many corners and we left it too late,” he told Irishcycling.com. “I was then 39th in the time trial; I was disappointed with that, as I was unable to get focussed.”
Voeckler picked up a three second bonus sprint during today’s leg and ended the day four seconds ahead of Vende Velde with just one stage remaining. Roche is 38 seconds back in 36th place, while Martin is 7 minutes and 29 seconds down in 86th.
The race concludes tomorrow with a 188.5 kilometre stage from Saint-Léonard-des-Bois to Le Mans. Voeckler’s Bouygues Telecom team expended a lot of energy today and so Slipstream will do everything possible to snatch the overall lead.
Roche’s Crédit Agricole squad will also have an incentive to do well, given that it is just seven seconds behind Bouygues Telecom in the team classification.
---------
Circuit Cycliste Sarthe - Pays de la Loire (2.1), France, April 8-11, 2008:
Stage 2a - April 9: Varades – Angers:
1, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone) 99.8 kilometres in 2 hours 34 mins 19 secs (38.803 km/h)
2, Christophe Diguet (Auber 93)
3, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare)
4, Paride Grillo (CSF Group Navigare)
5, Jimmy Casper (Agritubel)
6, Christophe Edaleine (AG2r - La Mondiale) all same time
Irish:
29, Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole) at 3 secs
63, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) same time
Stage 2b - April 9: Angers - Angers (ITT):
1, Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) 9 kilometres in 10 mins 0 secs (53.948 km/h)
2, Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux) at 10 secs
3, Stef Clement (Bouygues Telecom) at 12 secs
4, Tiziano dall'Antonia (CSF Group Navigare) at 14 secs
5, Steve Morabito (Astana) at 15 secs
6, Florent Brard (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone) at 16 secs
Irish:
39, Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole) at 34 secs
58, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 47 secs
Stage 3 - April 10: Angers - Fresnay-sur-Sarthe:
1, Mikhaylo Khalilov (Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce) 186.5 kilometres in 4 hours 27 mins (41.91 km/h)
2, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare)
3, Lilian Jégou (Française des Jeux)
4, Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux)
5, Jimmy Casper (Agritubel)
6, Tiziano Dall'Antonia (CSF Group Navigare) all same time
Irish:
31, Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole) same time
88, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 6 mins 38 secs
General classification after stage 3:
1, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) 12 hours 1 min 9 secs
2, Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 4 secs
3, Tiziano Dall'Antonia (CSF Group Navigare) at 11 secs
4, Benoît Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux) at 14 secs
5, Stef Clement (Bouygues Telecom) at 16 secs
6, Pierre Rolland (Crédit Agricole) at 18 secs
Irish:
36, Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole) at 38 secs
86, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 7 mins 29 secs
Points classification:
1, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare) 48 pts
2, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) 39
3, Jimmy Casper (Agritubel) 38
Mountains classification:
1, Markus Zberg (Gerolsteiner) 26 pts
2, Maurizio Biondo (Cermica Flaminia Bossini Doce) 18
3, Anthony Ravard (Agritubel) 16
U23 classification:
1, Pierre Rolland (Crédit Agricole)
2, Rein Taaramae (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone) at 2 secs
3, Jérôme Coppel (Française des Jeux) at 9 secs
Irish:
20, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) at 7 mins 11 secs
Teams classification:
1, Bouygues Telecom, 36 hours 4 mins 32 secs
2, Credit Agricole, at 7 secs
3, Cofidis,Le Credit Par Telephone, at 11 secs
4, CSF Group Navigare, at 13 secs
5, Astana, at 15 secs
6, Slipstream Chipotle, at 17 secs
--------
9/4/08 ROCHE 19TH ON FIRST STAGE OF CIRCUIT DE LA SARTHE
Acting as a leadout for team-mate Angelo Furlan, Nicolas Roche placed 19th on yesterday’s opening leg of the Circuit de la Sarthe in the Pays de la Loire region of France.
The Irish Crédit Agricole rider finished in the main bunch sprinting for third place, Furlan leading home the peloton some six seconds after Anthony Ravard (Agritubel) beat fellow Frenchman Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) to the line.
Daniel Martin (Team Slipstream) also finished in the main bunch, placing 71st.
“I led out Furlan for third place – we never caught the two in front,” said Roche after the stage. “I am feeling good.”
The 2.1-ranked event continues today with two stages. The first is a 99.8 kilometre race from Varades to Angers, while the second is a nine kilometre individual time trial held in the latter city.
---------
Circuit Cycliste Sarthe - Pays de la Loire (2.1), France, April 8-11:
Stage 1 - April 8: Aizenay – Ligné:
1, Anthony Ravard (Agritubel) 182.4 km in 4 hours 49 mins 45 secs (39.220 km/h)
2, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) same time
3, Angelo Furlan (Crédit Agricole) at 6 secs
4, Jimmy Casper (Agritubel)
5, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare)
6, René Weissinger (Team Volksbank) all same time
Irish:
19, Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole)
71, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) each same time
General classification after stage 1:
1, Anthony Ravard (Agritubel) 4 hours 49 mins 29 secs
2, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) at 1 sec
3, Angelo Furlan (Crédit Agricole) at 18 secs
4, Paride Grillo (CSF Group Navigare) at 19 secs
5, Jimmy Casper (Agritubel) at 22 secs
6, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare) same time
Irish:
19, Nicolas Roche (Crédit Agricole)
70, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) each same time
Mountains:
1, Anthony Ravard (Agritubel) 12 pts
2, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) 6
3, Thomas Frei (Astana) 1
Points:
1, Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) 35 pts
2, Anthony Ravard (Agritubel) 34
3, Angelo Furlan (Crédit Agricole) 16
U23 Classification:
1, Nicolas Hartmann (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone) 4 hours 50 mins 7 secs
2, Johannes Fröhlinger (Gerolsteiner)
3, Pierre Rolland (Crédit Agricole) both same time
Other:
13, Daniel Martin (Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30) same time
Team classification:
1, Bouygues Telecom, 14 hours 29 mins 27 secs
2, Agritubel, same time
3, Team Volksbank, at 6 secs
Other:
6, Crédit Agricole
16, Slipstream Chipotle, each same time
