Nicolas Roche primed for Giro challenge

Nicolas Roche will roll down the start-ramp in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands this afternoon as one of the two Irish riders in this year’s Giro d’Italia.

The two-time Vuelta a Espana stage winner will partner Donegal’s Philip Deignan in a nine-man line-up aiming to win the first of the year’s three Grand Tours.

It’s only the second time in his career that Roche has done the Giro, with 2014 being his last visit to Italian shores.