Roche fully recovered after day of rest

CYCLING TOUR DE FRANCE:FOLLOWING A sunny, tranquil rest day spent in the Morzine-Avoriaz area, Ireland's Nicolas Roche will today begin the next stage of the Tour de France fully focused on riding strongly.

The 26-year-old collapsed after Sunday’s tough mountain stage, pushing himself to the limit in order to fight for a final finishing position inside the top 15 overall.

He felt that he recovered well from the dramatic moment and, after taking in a muscle-loosening ride yesterday, is fully set on fighting onwards on today’s second Alpine stage.

“Yesterday was scary, but that is what happens when you give 200 percent,” he said, commenting on a slump after Sunday’s finish line that was evocative of his father Stephen’s fightback on La Plagne 23 years ago.

“I normally give 100 per cent but went even deeper. I just pushed it, pushed it, pushed it. I had a hunger flat with about two kilometres to go, and then I just continued as best as I could.”

Despite burning up to 8,000 calories a day, Roche said that he has been controlling his diet in order to ensure that he doesn’t put on weight.

However, as much as being light is a major advantage in the mountains, it’s more important to get enough calories on board during the Tour and thus ensure that muscle glycogen levels are optimal. “I thought I’d taken enough food during the stage,” he said, then conceded it was possible that he could have been at an overall energy deficit due to his earlier controlled intake.

From now on he intends to be more relaxed about it, realising that the Tour places a major demand on the body and he needs to fully refuel.

Roche had started Sunday’s stage eighth overall but dropped to 16th when he conceded 2 mins 18 secs to Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank). He’s just three minutes 11 seconds back, though, and is very much in the running for a top 15 overall finish.

“I lost two minutes, I was disappointed with that, but it is not the end of the world yet,” the Ag2r La Mondiale rider said.

“I am still in the game. Tomorrow could be very decisive. It is going to be a really, really tough start, and a tough day,” he continued, thinking forward to the 204.5km stage from Morzine Avoriaz to Saint Jean de Medeline.

It crosses five categorised climbs before the descent to the finish, and is guaranteed to further shake-up the general classification.

“I think it is going to be one of the hardest ones of the Tour, going up the Col de la Madelaine. I rode the stage already when I was at the training camp in June, so I know what to expect and how hard it is. The climb is 27 kilometres long, so it will be very tough.”

Double Tour runner-up Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) goes into the mountains holding a slender 20 second advantage over Schleck.

Schleck showed his strong form with his first stage win on Sunday, successfully getting clear of defending Tour champion Alberto Contador (Astana) inside two kilometres to go.

The Spaniard is now one minute one second back, while Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) are each within 10 seconds of that.

They are all part of a sizeable group of riders who can still win this race.

Septuple Tour winner Lance Armstrong is, however, no longer on the list of contenders, having dropped 11 minutes 45 seconds on Sunday.

He has vowed to bounce back, chase stage wins, and try to ensure that RadioShack team-mate Levi Leipheimer fights for the final victory in Paris 12 days from now.