I was crawling (definitely not rising!) through the Irish schoolboy and junior ranks in those glorious days of the 80′s so it’s really exciting that we have such a promising crop of riders on the scene again. After some very lean years indeed we now have Roche, Martin, Deignan and Brammeier all making occassional forays to the top of the leaderboard. OK so three of them weren’t actually born here but since two of those are Roches we can conventiently ignore that! Back in my day the local peloton was brimming with Roches and my Mammy spent many a long afternoon chatting with their Mammy so this next generation fit right in!

Objectively speaking Nico’s career has been a bit frustrating to follow at times. His initial promise seemed to be as a roadman sprinter, perfect for bagging wins from small breaks, etc. Then he decided he wanted to become a Grand Tour winner. Since then, while he’s had some laudable performances, he’s really not set the world alight. At times it’s been hard not to feel he’s wasted the opportunity for one day and stage wins so he can finish 9th on GC in the Tour. I’m sure his French team are partly to blame for that but it really was starting to feel like a waste of talent.

Maybe his Beijing win will focus his mind a bit on his real strengths. I’d love to see him focus on the likes of the Ardennes Classics, Lombardy and maybe even Flanders for a year or so.

Having said all that Nico is a very smart boy (which you’d expect from a product of one of Irelands top private schools!). His diary columns are well written, honest and give both cyclists and non-cyclists a refreshing view into the peloton. It’s amazing how many of my work colleagues read them.

On top of that he’s a really nice fella. Any time I’ve travelled to races and met him afterwards he always makes time and opens with a “Thanks for coming”. He regularly mentions the increasing number of Irish fans he sees by the road in the Tour. His writing’s played a big part in getting them out there.

Here’s hoping he can do a Cadel and come good late. If he can do that and cousin Dan keeps going the way he has been we could be in for another golden era.