Roche holds eighth after solid showing

CYCLING:IRELAND'S NICOLAS Roche had a good showing on yesterday's 18th stage of the Vuelta a España, gaining four seconds on four of the rivals fighting with him for a high overall placing in the race.

After lone attacker Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto) was reeled in, the stage to Salamanca ended in a bunch sprint and there HTC Columbia rider Mark Cavendish raced to his third sprint victory of the Spanish tour. He crossed the line well ahead of Juan-Jose Haedo (Team Saxo Bank) and Manuel Cardoso (Footon-Servetto) plus the main bunch.

The trickly uphill to the line saw some cracks open in the peloton. Roche was in the group which ended up being listed as finishing five seconds behind Cavendish. He rolled in 27th.

Crucially, the riders in fifth, sixth and seventh place overall, Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha), Xavier Tondo (Cervélo Test Team) and Tom Danielson (Garmin-Transitions), lost four seconds to Roche, as did ninth-placed Carlos Sastre (Cervélo Test Team).

The Ag2r La Mondiale rider remains eighth overall, four minutes and two seconds behind Nibali. He is just 19 seconds off fourth place and is aiming for that position; the small time gaps between the riders make yesterday’s gains all the more useful.

Should he finish better than ninth, it will be the highest Grand Tour finish by an Irish rider since Seán Kelly won the 1988 Vuelta.

The race continues today with a lumpy stage from Piedrahita Toledo. A second category climb comes early on, but another bunch sprint is possible. It is likely the overall contenders will keep their powder dry until tomorrow’s final mountain stage.