Roche stays in 22nd spot

Ireland’s Nicolas Roche retained his overnight position of 22nd on the overall General Classification at the Paris-Nice stage race in France yesterday when he rolled safely home in 52nd place as part of the large peloton.

Roche decided not to contest the sprint; a wise move given today’s leg-breaker features five categorised climbs over 220 kilometres from Sisteron to Nice, where his father Stephen owns a hotel. Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) retained the overall lead as Luis Leon Sanchez won the sixth stage.

Sanchez edged out veteran Jens Voigt as the two broke towards the end of yesterday’s stage.