Nicolas Roche ’worried’ as Tour de France place in jeopardy

Ireland’s Nicolas Roche admits he is “worried” he may miss out on this year’s Tour de France amid fears Team Sky will omit him from their line-up for the race.

Roche even passed up the opportunity to ride this year’s national championships which start this evening in Omagh, just so he could be at his best for the Tour, which starts on Saturday week in Utrecht in the Netherlands.

The issue arose after the team released a statement on their website yesterday which named an 11-rider shortlist for the three-week race.