CYCLING:WITH HIS season coming to an end tomorrow in the prestigious Tour of Lombardy Classic, Irish road-race champion Nicolas Roche showed signs of a return to form yesterday when he placed a fine 12th in the Giro del Piemonte.
The Ag2r La Mondiale rider crossed the line in a large group sprinting for seventh place, some four seconds behind the race winner Philippe Gilbert (Silence – Lotto). Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Caisse d’Epargne) was second with Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre – N.G.C) netting third.
Roche was pleased that he was feeling stronger than in recent races, but frustrated with how things played out.
“It was a good type of finish for me,” he said yesterday. “There was a two and a half kilometre climb and then a false flat in the last kilometre. I was feeling good enough to go and give it a shot.
“Unfortunately with about a kilometre and a half to go, there was a bit of split there. Gasparatto and Ballan let the wheel go so Gavazzi could go clear. I was on Ballan’s wheel when they slowed down. I was pretty disappointed in the end as I thought I would get a nice top-10 finish, so 12th place wasn’t quite there. That said, I certainly felt better than last week.”
Fellow Irishman Philip Deignan (Cervélo Test Team) came home one minute and three seconds back in 93rd place, sitting up on the final climb in order to preserve energy for Saturday. Daniel Martin (Garmin Slipstream) did not finish the 1.HC event.
Roche said that he hasn’t felt at full strength for several weeks and so is a little unsure as to what to expect on Saturday.
“I have no idea how it will go,” he admitted. “Last week I was feeling okay but I ran out of steam in both races on the last lap. Today was better, but I’ll have to see how Saturday goes.”
Gilbert has won his last three races and so will be one of the firm favourites for the Lombardy event. Like Roche, Deignan, Martin and the rest of the pro peloton will also finish up their season there.
In other news, David McCann clocked up another good result in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour yesterday when he placed 15th in the bunch sprint into Barwon Heads.
The stage saw overall leader Chris Sutton (Garmin Slipstream) take his third consecutive stage victory and extend his overall lead. He beat Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia) and Bradley Wiggins (Garmin-Slipstream) in the gallop to the line, and is now five seconds and 43 seconds clear of those rivals.
McCann is now 16th overall in the 2.1-ranked race. It continues today with the penultimate stage, a 10-kilometre individual time trial in Geelong. Wiggins, who finished fourth in this year’s Tour de France, is expected to win the test but McCann is capable of taking a top-five placing in the race against the clock. He finished an excellent 11th in the recent world championship time trial in Mendrisio, Switzerland.
CYCLING IRELAND MEMBERSHIP AWARDS 2009
Best Event:Epic Blast. Best Leisure Event:Mad XC 2009 on Three Rock. Ulster Volunteer:Trevor Annet. Munster Volunteer:Dan Curtin. Connacht Volunteer: John Brennan. Leinster Volunteer:Fergal Kilkenny. Best Male:Ryan Sherlock. Best Female:Melanie Spath. Best Club:Lakeside Wheelers.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Giro del Piemonte, Italy (1.HC) (Novi Ligure to Lagnasco): 1, Philippe Gilbert (Silence – Lotto) 184 kilometres in 4 hours 32 mins 54 secs; 2, D Moreno Fernandez (Caisse d’Epargne); 3, F Gavazzi (Lampre – N.G.C); 4, L Paolini (Acqua Sapone – Caffe Mokambo) all same time; 5, R Honig (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) at 2 secs; 6, P Martens (Rabobank) same time. Irish: 12, N Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) at 4 secs; 93, P Deignan (Cervelo Test Team) at 1 min 3 seconds. DNF: D Martin (Garmin – Slipstream).
FIXTURES
Saturday:Cycling Ulster AGM, Corner House Bar, Derrymacash Rd, Lurgan. Starts 1.30pm.
Sunday:Connacht MTB championships, Cong Woods. First races at noon.
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