Roche eyes top-10 placing

CYCLING:AFTER LAST Sunday's National Road Race championships brought each of the top Irish riders together for one time in the season, they have now gone their separate ways and are preparing for the next races on their calendars.

Nicolas Roche will tomorrow begin the Tour de France and has said he remains hopeful of a top-10 place, despite disrupted preparation.

He was injured twice over the winter, and crashed in both Fleche Wallonne in April and then in the Criterium du Dauphine in June.

However, he believes that once he settles into the Tour that his form should improve.

He was 15th last year, then went on to place an excellent seventh overall in the Vuelta a Espana.

Meanwhile, national race winner Matt Brammeier will start the Tour of Austria on Sunday and compete there for eight days.

After that, he will have a few weeks at altitude in preparation for the Clasica San Sebastian, the Eneco Tour and other events.

Dan Martin, the rider he beat by a centimetre last Sunday, is due to take a break from competition. He said that he is next due to start racing on July 21st.

“I will do the Brixia Tour just to get some racing back in my legs, then hit the Tour of Poland quite hard.

“After that I’ll do the Vuelta.”

Martin, who won the Poland event last year, is disappointed to miss out on selection in the Tour but also sees a plus to it.

“Jonathan (Vaughters, team chief executive) has got it in his head that he wants to take me there to try to make a really good result,” he explained.

He added that Vaughters prefers to wait until the young rider is physically mature enough to race solidly throughout three weeks.

“I am being patient and just progressing every year, growing up and maturing . . . I’ll hit the Tour hard in a few years.”

In all likelihood, it will be sooner than that; if the Vuelta goes well, he could get the nod in 2012.

Road race championship bronze medallist David McCann was clearly in strong form, and will next compete in the Tour de Qinghai Lake.

He flew out on Monday and will begin racing today.

“The race is a major target of mine, although I’m dreading the travel,” he said last weekend.

Sam Bennett and Philip Lavery, who finished fifth and seventh in the road race, are expected to be part of the Irish team for the European championships this month.

Both An Post Grant Thornton M Donnelly Seán Kelly team riders showed strong form on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club have announced the inclusion of some of Dublin and Wicklow’s more challenging climbs in the 135km route of its annual randonnee.

The August 7th event, in aid of the Irish Hospice Foundation, will take in Luggala, Sally Gap and the Shay Elliott.

See orwellwheelers.org for more information.