Continuing his buildup after competing in the Tour Down Under and the Tour of the Mediterranean, Nicolas Roche showed good form when he finished eighth on yesterday’s second stage of the Tour du Haut Var in France.
The Irish pro came home in a small group sprinting for third place in Callian, with these riders crossing the line three seconds behind the day’s winner Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Télécom) and one second behind David Moncoutie (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne).
Roche had previously finished 77th on Saturday’s opening stage to Grimaud, finishing 57 seconds behind the victor Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne).
Voekler was fourth then and the time gains yesterday saw him end the two day, 2.1-ranked event as the overall victor. Roche was 40th overall and 14th in the points standings.
The Irish Ag2r rider traditional hits form later in the season and so he’ll be encouraged by how things are going thus far. He was 14th overall in the Tour Down Under and then 20th overall in the Tour of the Mediterranean.
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Tour du Haut Var (2.1), France, February 21-22:
Stage 1 - February 21: Saint-Raphaël – Grimaud:
1, Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) 160km in 3 hours 39 mins 2 secs
2, Jussi Veikkanen (Française des Jeux)
3, Mathieu Ladagnous (Française des Jeux)
4, Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Télécom)
5, Jérome Pineau (Quick Step)
6, Julien Simon (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) all same time
Irish:
77, Nicolas Roche (Ag2r - La Mondiale) at 57 secs
Stage 2 - February 22: Draguignan – Callian:
1, Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Télécom) 194km in 5 hours 1 min 12 secs (38.645 km/h)
2, David Moncoutie (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne) at 1 sec
3, Chris Sörensen (Team Saxo Bank) at 3 secs
4, Vladimir Efimkin (Ag2r - La Mondiale)
5, Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Télécom)
6, Jussi Veikkanen (Française des Jeux)
Irish:
8, Nicolas Roche (Ag2r - La Mondiale)
Final general classification
1, Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Télécom) 8 hours 40 mins 4 secs
2, David Moncoutie (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne) at 5 secs
3, Jussi Veikkanen (Française des Jeux) at 7 secs
4, Mathieu Ladagnous (Française des Jeux) at 9 secs
5, Chris Sörensen (Team Saxo Bank) same time
6, Jérome Pineau (Quick Step) at 13 secs
Irish:
40, Nicolas Roche (Ag2r - La Mondiale) at 1 min 13 secs
Points classification
1, Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Télécom) 39 pts
2, Jussi Veikkanen (Française des Jeux) 30
3, Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) 25
4, Mathieu Ladagnous (Française des Jeux) 21
5, David Moncoutie (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne) 20
6, Chris Sörensen (Team Saxo Bank) 16
Irish:
14, Nicolas Roche (Ag2r - La Mondiale) 8
Mountains classification:
1, Lilian Jegou (Bretagne Schuller) 14 pts
2, Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) 12
3, Alexandre Aulas (Carmiooro ASY A-Style) 12
4, Benoît Sinner (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) 10
5, Jeremie Galland (Besson Chaussures - Sojasun) 10
6, Brice Feillu (Agritubel) 8
Teams classification:
1, Cofidis, le crédit en ligne, 2 hours 49 secs
2, Française des Jeux, at 2 secs
3, Bbox Bouygues Télécom, at 12 secs
4, Team Saxo Bank, at 27 secs
5, Rabobank, at 35 secs
Other:
14, AG2R La Mondiale, at 6 mins 45 secs