Roche breaks away to dominate stage

CYCLING: Nicolas Roche (Team Stephen Roche) yesterday consolidated his lead in the M Donnelly-sponsored Junior Tour with a fine win on the third day of the race. Roche was in dominant form throughout the tough, rained-out 58-mile stage, taking maximum King of the Mountain points on the category one climb shortly after the start in Waterford and then later escaping alone with 28 miles remaining.

Prompted by his frustration with the close marking by the Stena Ireland team, Roche's aggressive, audacious move upset the contenders behind. Second-placed Joost Van Leijen tried unsuccessfully to bridge the gap alone, before dropping back and pooling his strength with the other chasers. However, despite the desperate efforts of Van Leijen's Tempo BMV Veldhoven team-mates, plus the Stena Ireland trio of third-placed Theo Hardwick, stage two winner Páidí O'Brien and Andrew McQuaid, the gap continued to grow.

Roche raced powerfully over the remaining categorised climbs to open a maximum lead of two minutes, but eventually began to fade in the tough run-in to the finish. A late charge by Micheal Concannon (Killorglin CC), Dirk Bellemakers (Veldhoven A) and his team-mate Anthony Esposito succeeding in eating into his advantage, but a fine win was not to be denied. Roche crossed the line, arms aloft, some 30 seconds clear of Bellemakers, and a further 10 seconds ahead of his other challengers. An impressive display had been given, a valuable psychological boost gained.

"I didn't realise how far it was to the finish and went from too far out," said a drenched Roche afterwards. "It is frustrating to work so hard and only get 30 seconds, but at least I have extended my lead. I found out yesterday that only three riders have ever led the race from start to finish; now I want to make sure that I am the fourth.

"One of the reasons that I attacked was that I was tired of the marking by the Irish team. Every time I moved they were on my wheel. It was very frustrating, so I was determined to get clear and be able to ride my own race."

Roche now leads overall by 41 seconds and has taken both the blue points jersey and the lead in the the King of the Mountains competiton. The Tour continues today with a 56-mile race based around Carrick-on-Suir, which includes the daunting climb of Seskin Hill.

Irish team for the Eagle Tour of Malaysia, August 14th-18th, is: Paul Griffin, Tommy Evans, Philip Deignan, Denis Lynch, Thomas Hogan and Brian Ahern.

The underage track championships scheduled for tomorrow have been called off due to continuing work on the Sundrive Road track.

FIXTURES : Today: Junior Tour stage 4, Carrick on Suir, starts 12.0. Tomorrow: Junior Tour stage 5, Waterford, 12.0; Kilnaleck Festival, 6.30. Sunday: Junior Tour stage 6, Waterford, 11.0; Tour of Armagh, 12.0; Swords GP, Ballyboughil, 1.0; Crotty Cup, Kilrush, 2.0; Marie Keating Foundation Charity Cycle, starts Superquinn in Kildare at 9.30 am (100km ride) and 11.30 (30km). Contact Linda at 6246314 for more information.