Roche plays support role

CYCLING: NICOLAS ROCHE yesterday finished 74th in the 1.1-ranked Tour de Vendée in France, crossing the line one minute and 50 seconds behind the solo winner, Pavel Brutt (Team Katusha).

The Irishman had been away in an early break; after that move was caught he rode in support of Ag2r La Mondiale team-mate Martin Elmiger before running out of gas with 15 kilometres to go. Russia’s Brutt attacked in the closing stages to hit the line ahead of the rest. They were led home by Mathieu Ladagnous (Française Des Jeux) and Thomas Voeckler (BBox Bouygues Telecom).

Belgian rider Steven Van Vooren of the Sean Kelly squad was seventh. Team-mate Jef Peeters was 52nd while Mark Cassidy, Benny De Scrooder, Matthew Brammeier and Paídí O’Brien were listed as non-finishers.

Meanwhile, Vuelta a España stage winner Philip Deignan was a non-finisher in Saturday’s Sparkassen Münsterland Giro in Germany, pulling out after being stranded when the bunch broke up in winds. Aleksejs Saramotins (Team Designa Køkken) won.