CYCLINGWITH THE start of the 2012 season beginning for some riders in two months' time, Ireland's Nicolas Roche has said he is satisfied with how things are going so far for him. Last winter was a mess for the Irish rider, with two bouts of injury slicing into the training time he had hoped to do. This time round, he has remained free of problems and is ready to knuckle down to more specific training.
“Everything is fine so far,” he told The Irish Times yesterday. “I haven’t started hard yet, I am just taking it easy until this point. Unfortunately the weather hasn’t been great but I’ve got some training in anyway. I didn’t run this winter and have stayed clear of injury. I’m ready to step things up now.”
Roche was on a training camp with his Ag2r La Mondiale team in Montgenevre but left that early to return to Ireland for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards at the RDS last night, where his book Inside the Peloton won the best sports book category.
Roche is due to head to England this weekend where he will appear at a group ride and book publicity event at Planet X cycles in Sheffield on Saturday.
Meanwhile, his first cousin Daniel Martin was absent from yesterday’s Garmin-Cervélo launch in Boulder, Colorado.
Most of the team were in attendance but the Vuelta a España stage winner requested permission from the team to miss the event so he could attend fellow pro Daryl Impey’s wedding in South Africa.
He, his uncle Stephen Roche and other current and former pros will take part in the South African Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge on Sunday, which will raise funds for various charities.
Martin is Garmin-Cervélo’s top-ranked rider in the UCI WorldTour rankings in ninth place. He said recently that he needed to take a few weeks away from the pro cycling scene to unwind mentally prior to knuckling down to harder training once again.
Finally, the fourth round of the Supercross Cup will take place tomorrow in St Anne’s Park, Raheny. Multiple national champion Robin Seymour won the first two rounds and was second behind Roger Aiken in the most recent. The final race will be held on December 3rd in Tymon Park.
On Sunday the fourth round of the Ulster cyclo cross cup and combined Ulster championships will take place in Ormeau Park.
FIXTURES: Saturday: Supercross Cup round 4, St. Anne's Park, Raheny. Sunday: Ulster cyclo cross round five/Ulster Cyclo Cross championships, Ormeau Park. Sign on from 9.30.
