Found this in the Irish press!

Seems like i am not the only rider frustrated by events!

Nicolas Roche is fast becoming a force to be watched at Major Tours.



"If John Gadret is found dead in his hotel room in the morning, I will probably be the primary suspect. The 31-year-old French climber has been a team-mate of mine at Ag2r for the past two years.

Although we never had more than what you could call a workmanlike relationship, we never had any reason to fall out or take a dislike to each other over the past two years. But after today's stage, as he sat beside me on the team bus I had great difficulty in not putting his head through the nearest window.

Today was yet another really tough mountain stage, with the summit of a massive mountain coming just 20kms from the finish.

At 25km long, the ascent of the Port de Bales is one of those climbs that is too hard to rank and is classed as an Hors Category climb. If anyone was going to attack the leaders today, this is where it would be.

As usual, the Saxo Bank team of yellow jersey Andy Schleck set a fast tempo on the climb and the peloton began to lose riders out the back door.

I knew that if I could hang on going over the top, I could take a lot of time out of some of the guys in front of me on the overall classification and move up a few places from my overnight position of 14th overall.

Halfway up the climb, I was riding pretty comfortably in the Contador and Schleck group and some of the guys ahead of me like Basso and Kloden were beginning to struggle. As most of the other team leaders were left on their own, I was looking to move into the top 10 overall and still had Gadret with me for support. Or so I thought.

Six kilometres from the top of the climb, just as the pace began to increase at the front, I punctured a front wheel. I pulled over to the side of the road and as Gadret was riding behind me, I asked him for his wheel as he rode alongside.

This is a perfectly normal request if the team car is not around. To save time, a team-mate will often give his team leader a wheel or even his bike if necessary. I have done it plenty of times over the years, as have most cyclists, amateur or professional, at some stage in their careers.

As our team car was No 11 in the cavalcade and it would take a lot of time for them to get to me through the streams of dropped riders, I asked Gadret -- who was there to help me -- for his wheel. I couldn't believe what happened next. He just shook his head and said 'Non'. At first I thought he was joking, but soon realised he wasn't when he kept riding past me.

As my team manager, Vincent Lavenu, in the car behind shouted into Gadret's earpiece to wait, I took my wheel out and waited for a new one. All the time the group -- including Gadret -- was riding up the mountain, away from me.

After what seemed like an eternity, I eventually got a front wheel off the yellow Mavic neutral service car. Because the Mavic cars have to service any rider that needs a wheel or is in mechanical difficulty when their team car can't get to them, they don't have their wheels set up to fit everybody's frames instantly.

My wheel change took way longer than normal as the mechanic unscrewed the wheel's skewer to fit my front fork. At this stage, I was like a bull. I hopped back on my bike only to discover that my new wheel had been put in at an angle and was rubbing off the brake blocks. I leaned down and opened my front brake and, fuelled by rage, started passing groups on the climb.

All I could think of was getting to the finish as quickly as possible. Rage alone though, wasn't going to get me back up to the front of the race. Unbelievably, Gadret had attacked Schleck and Contador near the top, even though there was a group five minutes up the road and he had absolutely no chance of winning the stage.

Vincent was still screaming in our earpieces, calling Gadret every name under the sun and telling him to wait for me on the descent and help me claw back some time on the long run in to the finish. Gadret, though, just ignored him and kept riding.

Encouragement

There were loads of Irish flags on the climb and the encouragement from the fans, some of whom were wearing GAA jerseys, spurred me on even more. I flew up the last kilometre and having passed lots of riders on the way up, I found myself on my own on the descent. I nearly killed myself on the first two corners because in my state of rage and frustration I had forgotten that my front brake was still open.

I had to tighten it as I was descending, which slowed me down again. I spent the rest of the stage on my own, chasing like a madman. I didn't know who I had passed or who was in front of me. I could see world champion Cadel Evans up the road and was fixated on catching him next but the line came too quickly.

I had finished almost eight minutes behind stage winner Thomas Voeckler but more importantly, I lost between three and five minutes to some of the guys that I should have put time into and dropped three places to 17th.

My team-mate Lloyd Mondory had also been in the early break and did a fantastic job to get fourth on the stage. Lloyd is a sprinter and this wasn't his type of stage at all, so to get fourth was a tremendous ride and even though I was angry at Gadret, I was really happy for Lloyd.

After the stage, I reminded Vincent that Gadret was on the team for another two years, and that I hoped he never asked me for anything again, because I would not forget today for a long time. Gadret finished three minutes ahead of me and now lies just two places and two minutes behind me. He is the first French rider overall. Maybe he wants to be the first Ag2r rider too.

By the time I got onto the team bus, Vincent was already in the middle of a blazing row with Gadret.

Although I wanted to smash his head in, and had visions of a baldy French climber exiting through the windscreen, I let Vincent do his job as team manager and said nothing. I got off the bus as quickly as possible and travelled to the hotel in the team car. I couldn't stand to be near him. I will have to keep my hands in my pockets at the dinner table.

Although I am too angry to have thought about it properly yet, I will possibly have to go on the attack now to gain back the time I lost today. If I want to finish in the top 15, I have two options.

I can hang in there on the climbs and hope some of the guys in front of me blow up like they did today, or I can get in an early move and try to stay away to the finish, taking back a bit of time.

I know a move like this can be suicidal and can cost you a lot of time, but I want to finish in the top 15. I'm 17th, so I have nothing to lose.

Looking forward to seeing a strong result that will make your Old Man proud!

RIDING WITH THE RACERS

When you wish to ride with a Racer or Team of Racers it is important to find the “Main Man” and ask their permission. Of course they could say no ! That, is their prerogative, they are out for training and really need to relax and enjoy their colleagues company also you are an unknown and perhaps a danger. They do not know how you will react in an emergency. Being hit from the rear can disrupt their day, even worse you go down and take others with you!

Case in point was a rest day in Bordeaux with the tour. In the morning I was riding with US Postal. I got to rag Salvodelli about the Italian Diving Team playing the Aussie soccer team in the World Cup Going down the road I spotted the Lampre Team so I did a quick U turn and rode with them for a while of course I was well known so they were up for the banter. Further down the road i then joined another team, Team Telecom and returned with them to the hotel area. After lunch I spotted Stuey on his way out so I galloped up alongside. He was on the mp3, when I caught his attention I asked and he said he would rather listen to the music so I left him to enjoy the ride in peace.








Mentioned before that I rode training with “Jaffa”, Freire and Garate at Monaco. I asked the guys to go easy on me as they were “fooling around” in the city area, sprinting then slowing down looking around then going full bore up the slopes. Well I don’t get up the hill as quickly as they when the muscles are cool and that day was overcast and chilly . After about ½ hr I was happy for them to get on at their training pace as they were going around the Time Trial route which I had done several times by then and was aware that I would get smoked.









When Kelme was riding the Vuelta one year I was at Jaen for the rest day. I had checked in and was welcomed. Along the route we were joined by some good local riders they continually separated me from the team and as I didn’t know the dynamics I put up with having to chase back to the back of the team. After a while the leader dropped back to the “locals” said some things and then told me to go to the front to ride tempo for a while. As the ride progressed the locals dropped out and we pulled up at a service station café for drinks . We then carried on ,caught and passed the locals then there was another café stop. On the way back I started out in the middle of the pack but soon found myself struggling to maintain the pace. After a while a team car draughted me back into the pack at the top of a climb. I arrived back in Jaen with a lot of ribaldry from the guys.





The Thursday starting at Strasbourg I was riding in towards the Start/Permanence area when Euskatel was riding out for training, they called out to me so I turned and caught up with them. The ride took us west into a variety of climbs. There was another Aussie there and he was able to draught most of the climbs but I was struggling on the last so the team car gave me an assist for the last part of the climb. When we reached the top there was a racer waiting to pull me back to the group. The descents were easier as I am heavier and it was only when we got closer to Strasbourg they decided to practice Team Time Trial on the final part of the route into their hotel.

Liege one year the start of the ride was with the Lotto team but as the pace quickened and then started up a strong climb I gave up the chase as I saw another team heading back into town. Enjoyed chatting to Ciaran Power for a while as the other AG2R racers were mostly French and whilst I can muddle through it is harder when you are struggling for breathe. Later as the weather changed I found myself riding to the “Permanence” in heavy rain with the Euskadi team. We were crossing tram tracks at a quick tempo and on a tangent so I was glad to be at the back as I was expecting trouble at any moment. It was almost impossible to see the racer in front let alone the road surface because the sunnies were fogged up and the rain and water off the tyres were splattering into the eyes.





Another year we had a rest day in Pau, I went out with Team Telecom towards the west and after an hour the weather started to look iffy. When the first drops arrived the guys decided that the hotel was a good idea and so the main group with me in tow started back. The tempo got to be pretty quick and hanging in was getting difficult. As I was losing touch the team car came past with Jan and others in tow. Well I tried to get on but just as I was feeling the draught a local who was on pulled across with chain problems and left us both floundering, I got back to the hotel well behind the others but luckily the rain storm did not arrive.



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For many years I have tried to ride the Rest days with the team wearing the Principle Jersey, so at Limoges I rode out to Raymond Poulidor’s village with Tomo Voekler. With Cunego and Simoni in the Giro d’italia and Carlos Sastre and Roberto Heras in the Vuelta. Many times there are media there so it is necessary to try to stay out of the picture, even riding behind the team car on occasions. When they get too far behind ,playing catch up can be a long tiring ride. On rest days for the teams I sometimes find I am riding more kilometres than on a race etappe. Gets to be a long day when you go from the day before’s finish through the night to be there in time to join the ride . Even worse when the weather is adverse as happened in Montpelier one time when I hooked up with CSC. Getting there was during a rain storm but it blew through before the team started down the road. Many times I ride the etappe in the rain and watch the race on Tv and see the racers in sunshine, timing is everything.

Many more memories at a later date. I feel like the “Professor” in his study with you acting as “Harry Potter” ,pouring memories into a bowl for us all to relive.