Nicolas Roche claimed the Irish National Champion jersey with a blistering attack on the final climb to drop An Post riders David O’Laughlin and Paidi O’Brien, soloing to the line.The race took place on a fairly flat course in Dunboyne.

The son of cycling legend Stephen Roche, then faced an anxious few hours ahead of the announcement of his teams squad for the Tour de France.  However when the team was released Roche was included and Ireland will now have two riders in the race as Roche will start alongside his first cousin (and former 2008 National Champion) Dan Martin of Garmin-Slipstream.

The AG2R team in full is-

· Jose-Luis ARRIETA (Spain)

· Cyril DESSEL (France)

· Hubert DUPONT (France)

· Vladimir EFIMKIN (Russia)

· Stéphane GOUBERT (France)

· Lloyd MONDORY (France)

· Rinaldo NOCENTINI (Italy)

· Christophe RIBLON (France)

· Nicolas ROCHE (Ireland)