Twenty-two year old Nicolas Roche has been officially told by his Crédit Agricole team that he will be riding the Giro d'Italia next month, the twentieth anniversary of his father's victory in the 1987 edition, one month before going on to win the Tour de France and world road race championships that year.
Third year professional Roche had set participation in the gruelling three week Grand Tour as one of his major goals for the season and secured his place on the team with a series of good results in the past week finishing ninth in the Paris-Camembert Lepetit race, then placed sixth in the Grand Prix de Denain two days later.
On Saturday he was a solid 13th in the Tour du Finistère, then he took his third top ten placing in four races when he was ninth in the bunch sprint which decided the Tro Bro Léon on Sunday. Each of the races are 1.1 ranked French Cup events.
Mark Scanlon was the last Irishman to take part in a Grand Tour, finishing the Tour de France in 2004, before riding 12 stages of the 2006 Giro d'Italia. Ciarán Power completed the Italian race in 2000.
Nicolas Roche will therefore be only the third Irish rider to do a Grand Tour in the years since 1993, making it very significant news for both Irish cycling and his own development in the pro ranks.
The 2007 Giro d'Italia will begin in Sardinia on May 12th, and runs until June 3rd.
