Nicolas Roche picked up more world ranking points when he finished seventh overall in the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium on Wednesday.
The race concluded with a 175.3 kilometre stage to Aubel, with Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole) beating Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone) in a sprint to the line.
Sergei Ivanov (Astana) was six seconds back in third, while Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) led home a 28-man group for fourth.
Roche was in this bunch, finishing 15th on the stage. He had started the day sixth overall but Ivanov’s jump to the top of the general classification bumped him down a place to seventh.
The young Crédit Agricole rider tenth in the intermediate sprints classification and 14th in the points rankings, while his team claimed second in the team competition.
Roche’s strong form will give him encouragement prior to the Olympic Games road race in Bejing where he will be joined by Philip Deignan.
