Nicolas Roche aiming to take down ‘beatable’ Sky at Tour de France

Dusseldorf – Team Sky enjoyed a huge confidence boost from their impressive collective performance in Saturday’s opening Tour de France time trial, but they would be well advised to surrender the yellow jersey and the pressure that comes with it, three-time champion Greg LeMond told Reuters.

Geraint Thomas admitted he won’t know where to ride in the peloton today as he wears the coveted Tour de France yellow jersey for the first time.

The Welshman’s role at this Tour is to help protect Sky team leader and reigning champion Chris Froome, which means he would usually have the three-time Tour victor sitting on his back wheel.

The Welshman defied the weather conditions in Dusseldorf to stop the clock in 16 minutes and four seconds on the 14km course, with BMC Racing’s Stefan Kung five seconds adrift in second, and Thomas’ Sky team-mate, Vasil Kiryienka, seven seconds back in third.

The rain also got the best of Porte’s countryman Luke Durbidge, a strong time trial contender who finished second-last after crashing. After all, Alejandro Valverde crashed today, and it appears that he may have injured his knee, which could make him miss the rest of the 2017 Tour de France.

“This is good for my morale and good for the team”, said Thomas, who won Olympic gold medals in Beijing and London.

While Porte will be concerned to concede ground before the Tour proper begins, he was happy not to suffer the same fate as Valverde. He gained 35 seconds on Richie Porte and 36 on Nairo Quintana. Why is the Tour de France such a special race and why do you continuously prioritize it over the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana?

German hopes of victory were high as they hosted the Grand Depart, with time trial specialist Tony Martin among the favourites for the stage win.

“My role is pretty clear and I’m not going to do anything insane because my dad won the Tour 30 years ago”, he said.

The british cyclist was initially less threatening and more vulnerable than in years past. “I’m a bit disappointed as I was hoping to do a good prologue, but that’s how it is”.

“Whatever happens over the next three weeks, I’m looking forward to keeping the BMC jersey on my back beyond the end of the season”.

“I think when you’re going for GC (general classification) every second is important”, Roche said.

“To be on the other side of the camera now, putting on the yellow jersey, is stuff of dreams”.

And yes, that also includes when the prospect of puncturing at the worst possible times becomes reality, as it did in the closing kilometres of stage two in last year’s Tour.