Nicolas Roche had an encouraging start to the Giro d’Italia yesterday when he posted a time of 11 minutes 33 seconds for the opening stage of the three-week race.

Ireland’s Nicolas Roche has finished runner-up in the 14th stage of the Tour de France, 16 seconds behind Katusha’s Sergei Ivanov, with Hayden Roulston in third.

Our population figures are almost identical, our climates are similar, as is our love of sport. So why is New Zealand — and not Ireland — punching above its weight at the Olympic Games?