Riding his first race of the season in the Tour of Oman, Nicolas Roche has shown the disruption caused a knee problem has not set him back as much as might have been feared.

The Tinkoff Saxo rider again finished in the main bunch on yesterday’s third stage, placing 66th and in the same time as the bunch sprint winner André Greipel (Lotto Belisol). He is 47th overall, 16 seconds behind Greipel in the overall standings.

Roche had arguably the best results of his career towards the end of last season when he won a stage and finished fifth overall in the Vuelta a España. However his momentum was disrupted when he strained his knee at team training camp, and was forced to take time off.

He confirmed yesterday the issue has passed. "The knee is okay now," he told the Irish Times . "Oman is a great race to start with. We had some flatter days, and now there's some climbs. My goal is to use it to see where I am at, although I obviously know I still have a lot of work to do.

The race continues until Sunday, after which Roche will ride Strade Bianche, Tirreno Adriatico and Milan-Sanremo.

His first big season target is the Giro d’Italia, which begins in Belfast on March 9th.

Fellow Irishman Sam Bennett is also racing in Oman and after netting a fine tenth in Wednesday's bunch sprint, he lost contact with the front riders on the lumpy run in to the finish yesterday. He rolled in four and a half minutes back, but will aim to chase a good result on Sunday's flatter stage.

Meanwhile two other Irish riders will start their seasons this Sunday in the GP Izola in Slovenia. Synergy Baku duo Connor McConvey and Philip Lavery will make the trip for the one day race, and will then continue to build their form for the An Post Rás in May, the Irish national championships in June plus other events.

Lavery had a trial with the Cofidis team last year and rode well, but the contract he was hoping for didn’t materialise as the team was unable to get a WorldTour contract. He was very disappointed and was going to give up the sport when Synergy Baku handed him a lifeline.