Brave Roche stays in touch

NICHOLAS ROCHE continues to ride exceptionally well as leader of his Ag2R Mondiale team in the Tour de France, finishing in 20th place yesterday on stage 12, just 31 seconds behind stage winner Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha).

The 26-year-old Dubliner came in as part of a ten man group which featured yellow-jersey contenders Luis Leon Sanchez (Euskatel-Euskadi) and Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo).

With Roche riding strongly towards the finish they distanced themselves from the majority of the bunch on the final climb of the day – the Montée Laurent Jalabert outside Mende.