Roche banging on the door in Paris-Nice

Irish national Champion Nicholas Roche (AG2r-La Mondiale)

Irish national Champion Nicholas Roche (AG2r-La Mondiale) (Image credit: Sirotti)

Nicolas Roche showed his continuing strong start to the season yesterday when he sparked off the winning move on stage three of Paris-Nice. The Irish road race champion attacked on the early part of the short, steep Côte de la Martinie, which peaked just three kilometres from the finish line, and led the whole way up.