CYCLING:FOLLOWING UP on his declarations he would attack in the final days of the Tour de France, Nicolas Roche rode aggressively on yesterday's 17th stage of the race. The Ag2r la Mondiale rider was clear in a couple of moves, with the most significant effort coming 92 kilometres in.

He surged clear of the peloton on the climb of the Col de Montgenevre, was joined by former King of the Mountains leader Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and Kevin De Weert (Quick Step), and set about chasing the leading break.

The trio rode hard to try to close the gap but with the 14-man leading group’s advantage being over seven minutes at the time they started their pursuit, it was a tough task.

“I felt like going at that moment, I said I’d see how it works out,” Roche said. “At the start I couldn’t ride as the team were defending the general classification for Jean Christophe Peraud, but once the gap rose to a couple of minutes it was okay.

“We worked hard and got a lot of the gap back; we took over six minutes from the break, but on the descent they pulled clear because there were more of them . . . they could do 80 kilometres per hour when we were doing 60. It was good to try anyway.”

Roche and De Weert continued onwards and ultimately finished 14th and 16th, four minutes behind stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling). This saw the Irishman move up to 21st overall, 14 minutes and 6 seconds behind race leader Thomas Voeckler.

However it’s not quite a return to form. “I was feeling better than yesterday, but still nothing like I normally do,” said Roche.

Today’s stage is a hugely difficult mountain stage to the top of the Col du Galibierm, with three difficult climbs involved.