Roche selected to ride in Tour of Italy

CYCLING: Giro d'ItaliaA good run of results in recent French Cup races has led to Nicolas Roche being selected to line out in the 2007 Giro d'Italia, one of his big targets for the season.

Roche confirmed yesterday that the Crédit Agricole team have told him he will be riding the Italian Tour, 20 years after his father, Stephen, won the race.

Earlier this year, the 22-year-old named participation in the Giro as one of his goals, knowing that lining out there would help him become stronger and more experienced and pave the way for bigger results in the years ahead.

The news is significant for Irish cycling as he will be only the third Irishman to line out in a three-week Grand Tour in the years since his father retired in 1993.

Ciarán Power finished the Giro d'Italia in 2000, while Mark Scanlon completed the Tour de France four years later and then did the first 12 stages of the Giro last season.

Roche secured his place on the squad with a series of good results in the past week.

He placed ninth, sixth, 13th and ninth again in French Cup races and, despite missing some of the earlier rounds, is currently 12th in that series.

"I am very happy, very pleased," he told The Irish Times yesterday.

"I have been waiting for two years now to do a Grand Tour, so I am really happy and focused."

At 22, he is five or six years off the age when most cyclists come into their prime for such events. He has, therefore, set a realistic target for his first Giro.

"Finishing is definitely a goal, of course," he stated. "Hopefully I would like to be up there (on the attack) on a few stages, not just be in there and struggling.

"I have no idea how my body will react to a three-week tour, so I will study the course on the internet, seeing which days I can plan to attack and which days are better for me to stay in the bunch."

Roche played down any suggestion that he will be fired up to do well because his father won the race 20 years ago.

"To be honest, it won't really be a big factor because I think I have sufficient motivation myself. I don't think I need extra motivation.

"Of course, if I do well, I will be happy to do so on the 20th anniversary of my dad's success.

"But then, on the other hand, I am not going to do well just because it is the 20th year."

Although he is a talented rider in his own right, he showed that he has his feet firmly on the ground.

"There is not a Stephen Roche around every corner," he said.

In 1987 Roche senior won the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and World Championships in the same season, a feat only accomplished by the great Eddy Merckx.

Interestingly, Merckx's son Axel is also currently a professional cyclist.

It is rare for a father and son to have successful professional cycling careers.

The 2007 Giro d'Italia will begin in Sardinia on May 12th and runs until June 3rd.