Nicolas Roche finished a solid 16th on the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain, crossing the line in the main bunch led home by the day’s victor Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step).
Weylandt beat closest rivals Matti Breschel (Team CSC - Saxo Bank) and Alexandre Usov (AG2R La Mondiale) to the finish in Valladolid.
With just four days of racing left in the three week Tour, Roche is an excellent 17th overall. He remains 19 minutes and 31 seconds behind the overall leader Alberto Contador of Astana, who leads his own team-mate Levi Leipheimer by one minute and 17 seconds.
The Vuelta a España continues tomorrow with a 167.4 kilometre stage from Valladolid to Las Rozas. It is mainly flat and is not expected to have any significant effect on the general classification.
Roche’s most important rendezvous is Saturday’s mountain time trial; if he rides solidly there, he will seal his top twenty place overall.
