Roche has 'nightmare all day'

CYCLING:FEELING THE effects of his long breakaway ride on Thursday's toughest stage of the Tour de France, Nicolas Roche said he was running on empty on yesterday's mountain stage to Alpe d'Huez. The Ag2r la Mondiale rider lost contact with the favourites early on when Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank SunGard) dynamited the field with an attack after 16 kilometres.

Roche eventually finished in a group 25 minutes 27 seconds down, and dropped to 26th in the general classification. "It was definitely tough . . . what I was hoping for is a lot better than what happened," he told The Irish Times. "I was struggling from the bottom of the climb this morning and just had a nightmare all day."

He was hoping for a top-10 finish in the Tour but his crash last month in the Critérium du Dauphiné has meant he is not in the same form as last season. He’s got two days left before the finish of the race. Despite his fatigue, he’s going to push it in today’s 42.5 kilometre time trial in Grenoble.

“I don’t think there is anything much possible on Sunday’s last stage, but I want to ride the TT flat out tomorrow. I never take the start of the race without thinking that,” he said. “I always do everything at 100 per cent, even if the performance might not turn out as high as I want.

“But I want to be concentrated, and riding these time trials hard will help me in future races.

“After that, it’s just about getting to the end of the Tour on Sunday. I can’t wait for this one to be over with,” he said, looking forward to a break and a chance to recuperate prior to his late-season targets. Those will include the Vuelta a España, where he was seventh overall last year.