We had a chat with Nicolas Roche immediately after the New Heroic, the “gravelfondo” organized in Buonconvento (Siena) where the former Irish pro (he ended his career last year after 17 seasons) had a lot of fun on the dusty Tuscan dirt roads.
Time to gulp down a slice of watermelon after arriving and we sit down to ask him how it went.
«Really beautiful! I've done three or four Strade Bianche in my career – he replies – but I have to say that making them with the gravel bikes that are now in fashion is a new challenge. And then the four timed sections are done at full speed as if they were four time trials. Very intense."
Former conversations between Roche and Visconti, both fresh from retirement At the start of Nova Eroica there is obviously also the organizer Brocci The passion for gravel has exploded: will Roche race in the World Cup in 2023?
Former conversations between Roche and Visconti, both fresh from retirement At the start of Nova Eroica there is obviously also the organizer Brocci The passion for gravel has exploded: will Roche race in the World Cup in 2023?
Do you think gravel is a fad?
Actually, no. It's a new pleasure that's opening new doorsThere's no need for MTB technique and in my opinion we're only at the beginning of the gravel world.
You've been a professional since this year. Do you miss being in a team, or was it time to say enough?
The time had come to say enough, I don't regret my decision, but if you're a competitive person this characteristic will remain in your soul.For example this winter I participated in the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars and training six or seven hours a day.
Where did this Dancing with the Stars opportunity come from?
They offered it to me last October. I asked: When is it? In January. January? There's nothing in January, let's go! I didn't know what I was getting into. Without knowing how to dance. But I needed a challenge outside of cycling that represented a break with the past, with the habit of cycling every day, going on a diet…
In some videos you can see that you had a tough coach…
Yes, Karen is very tough and we often wanted both punch the wall or scream out the windowShe got mad at me because I tried to fit in an hour of roller training at six in the morning, but she told me that this experience was unique and that I could get my bike back in March. More than once he sent me into the next room for five minutes to… take a walkBut I realized she was right, and I didn't train on the bike for a month and a half. An hour a day just didn't make sense, and I didn't want to regret not training hard for dance.
This year you're also the coach of the Irish national team. How do you feel about that?
It's a mission aimed at European and globalUnlike what happens here in Italy, we don't run elsewhere.
Daniel Martin also quit last year. Which riders are you banking on?
Let's see how Sam (Bennet, ed.) goes. He had a catastrophic year in 2021 and now he goes to the Tour hoping to regain the leg he had two years ago.. Then we have Eddie Dunbar who won the Coppi e Bartali and is growing and Ben Healy of EF who is young and in my opinion has talent.
Then there was the mini series “Giro ReflectionsFilmed by Bianchi Media House during the last Giro d'Italia. Four episodes spanning Hungary, Sicily, Naples, and finally the Alps to Verona. Between Hungarian goulash, Sicilian arancini, and Neapolitan pizza, what did you enjoy most?
I'd say Neapolitan pizza, but something incredible happened on the Mortirolo. We did the climb at night (apart from the fact that in the last three kilometers my light ran out and I had to follow the light of the cameraman in front of me in the car) and we finished at 22,30pm. All places to eat are closedIn the end we saved ourselves by calling a refuge two kilometers after the pass and the lady prepared the for us pizzoccheri at eleven o'clock at night.
And you rode an e-bike on Mount Etna. What were your impressions?
Beautiful, it was the first time I tried it and I understood why it's having this boom. The truth is that you can choose your level of suffering.
Finally, in Verona you picked up the Giro trophy, indicating, among the names of the engraved winners, that of your father in 1987.
Yes, that trophy (his voice drops a tone, more respectful, ed.) is at my grandparents' house in Ireland and It has a very deep meaning to me, for almost 35 yearsThere aren't many trophies in sport as symbolic as that one. It's like the World Cup in soccer. Not even the Tour trophy is that iconic.
Speaking of the Tour, we're leaving in a few days. Is Pogacar really unbeatable?
He's physically very strong. But as they say in the group, the Tour is the Tour, in the sense that it is such an intense race that every curve can represent a danger or a surprise. So it's not enough to be the strongest. And then there are the opponents, First of all I put Roglic who showed that they perhaps have the best team and that they are in a position to compete.
At the 2015 Vuelta, Roche beats Zubeldia at the finish line in Riaza In 2019, however, Roche was in the leader's jersey for three days
At the 2015 Vuelta, Roche beats Zubeldia at the finish line in Riaza In 2019, however, Roche was in the leader's jersey for three days
Finally, any future projects?
I've had a slightly crazy idea going around in my head for a couple of weeks: next year I might train a little more and do six or seven Gravel World Cup racesPartly because I fell in love with this discipline, partly because I'm addicted to travelling.
And a little because, we add, competitive spirit doesn't disappear overnight.
