Nicolas Roche's Vuelta diaries

[Zinoviev Letter]

Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) wrote daily diaries for the Irish Independent during the Tour. They will probably be best remembered as the venue for his remarks about wanting to kill John Gadret, but even aside from that they were very interesting. If he's writing them himself, Roche could make a good living as a sports writer.

Anyway, much to my surprise, the Irish Independent has asked him to write a similar diary during the Vuelta. The Irish media has seemingly rediscovered cycling now that we have some good pros again, for the first time since the Kelly/Roche Sr era.

They are well worth checking out. He's remarkably honest, at least by the dismal standards of sports diaries. Here are the last few:

It Feels Like You're Pedalling Inside One Big Mobile Oven
Sweat Was Dripping Off Me For Most Of The Stage
The Only Good Thing About These Motels Is The Buffet

 

[The Hitch]

Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) wrote daily diaries for the Irish Independent during the Tour. They will probably be best remembered as the venue for his remarks about wanting to kill John Gadret, but even aside from that they were very interesting. If he's writing them himself, Roche could make a good living as a sports writer.

Anyway, much to my surprise, the Irish Independent has asked him to write a similar diary during the Vuelta. The Irish media has seemingly rediscovered cycling now that we have some good pros again, for the first time since the Kelly/Roche Sr era.

They are well worth checking out. He's remarkably honest, at least by the dismal standards of sports diaries. Here are the last few:

It Feels Like You're Pedalling Inside One Big Mobile Oven
Sweat Was Dripping Off Me For Most Of The Stage
The Only Good Thing About These Motels Is The Buffet

Most sports articles are ghost written, but i dont think this one is.

 

[hrotha]

Interesting reads. I like riders who can write a little, like Roche, Horrillo and Horner.

 

[ferryman]

Thanks for the links Zino. Evidently, young Roche has a lot going for himself both on and off the bike. A very likeable guy.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Most sports articles are ghost written, but i dont think this one is.

It's certainly a lot less bland than most ghost-written sports diaries I've seen.

The bit I find most interesting is the stuff about the team. He always includes parts about what his team mates have been up to, who crashed, who got in a breakaway, who rode himself into the ground to fetch bottles on a mountain.

Anyway, here are the first couple of diaries for the Vuelta. Irritatingly there isn't a single page with links to all of the diaries:

I Really Suffered Like Never Before Today

It's good news for the profile of the sport in Ireland that the Irish Independent is carrying these diaries. It's the biggest selling paper in the country which means a hell of a lot of people are reading about the ins and outs of riding a Grand Tour. The Irish media in general seems to have suddenly started to remember that cycling exists again, for the first time since S. Roche retired. It's just a pity that there's no Tour of Ireland this year.

 

[forty four]

yeah go n.roche seems like a nice guy and a like able individual i hope he places well overall in cycling in general i feel he is a good face and voice for your average pro cyclist. also sorry im an american but a mic(irish) as well so that clouds my view lol. whatever i like the guy.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

On yesterday's stage:

Cyclists Have A David Blaine-Like Capacity To Make Food Disappear.

 

[salixcycling]

List of the diary entries so far

These are nearly all listed above, but here is an index of the diaries so far:

Preview Starting under street lights will be chaotic
Stages 1&2 I really suffered like never before today
Stage 3 It feels like you're pedalling inside one big mobile oven
Stage 4 Sweat was dripping off me for most of the stage
Stage 5 The only good thing about these motels is the buffet
Stage 6 Cyclists have a David Blaine-like capacity to make food disappear