Roche continues steady climb as Contador falters

HE may have finished over two minutes behind stage winner Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) but Ireland’s Nicolas Roche gave the strongest indication yet that he’s bang in line for a top 10 overall finish at this year’s Tour de France after he produced a superb ride up to the summit of Luz Ardiden in the Pyrénées on the toughest stage of this year’s race yesterday.

The Ag2R La Mondiale rider crossed the line in 17th place behind several of the big name contenders but it was enough to see him improve his overnight position by three places. He now trails the yellow jersey of Thomas Voeckler by four minutes and 47 seconds.

Voeckler successfully defended the maillot jeune on Bastille Day, but significantly, three-time champion Alberto Contador lost time to his overall rivals on the first mountain stage of this year’s race.