Heavenly photos from a stay in Sri Lanka, skiing or during gravel competitions, his new passion. On his Instagram account, Nicolas Roche regularly shares his daily life with his 140,000 followers. But a few days ago the remarks were more serious. The 41-year-old former Irish cyclist, retired since 2021, needed to confide, to tell in a story the violent attack of which he was the victim.
A few days ago, while leaving a restaurant in Barcelona with his wife, the native of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines) was attacked by three individuals who tried to steal his watch.
“What shocked me was that for more than five minutes, people stood there watching while I was on the ground and my girlfriend was calling for help,” wrote the winner of two stages of the Tour of Spain in 2013 and 2015. “It’s completely crazy to think that someone in the restaurant must have warned them to wait for me outside. I had read stuff like that in the newspapers, but it’s something else when it happens to you. It’s the biggest scare of my life. »
The son of former champion Stephen Roche, author of a triple Tour de France, Tour of Italy and World Championship in 1987, hides nothing of his injuries and shows his swollen face. He continues.
Many messages of support
“Thanks to my girlfriend and the two security guards from the store located further down the street, I not only managed to save my watch, but above all to prevent the attackers from hitting me further,” he explains. Fortunately, I only came out with a few facial injuries and a bruise on my elbow. Marta (his girlfriend) was hit in the back of the head as she tried to protect my head on the ground. It remains difficult to realize what happened. Be careful when you go out. »
Since these revelations Nicolas Roche has received numerous messages of support.
