Roche beats Deignan in Yong Ning Town

Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) beat compatriot Philip Deignan (RadioShack) and Chris Froome (Team Sky) to the line on stage three of the Tour of Beijing from Men Tou Gou to Yong Ning Town. It was Roche’s first WorldTour win, while Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) retained his lead in the overall.

The trio of Roche, Deignan and Froome broke clear on the final climb of the day with under 15 kilometers to go, and stayed away from the fast approaching bunch on the short run-in to the line.

"I am very happy, as I have been waiting for this for two years. It is such a great moment - those few seconds when you put your hands in the air," an overjoyed Roche said after the stage.

"This victory comes at the right moment for me as well as for the team. I've had a difficult season for multiple reasons and the team also experiences a complicated end of season."

The winning move was sparked by Deignan on the lower slopes of the climb as a number of overall contenders hesitated. Only Froome seemed able to challenge race leader Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad), with the Englishman and Roche breaking clear of the bunch and joining up with Deignan.

With just 26 seconds separating Froome and Martin on GC, the German was forced to ride defensively but the climb lacked the decisive gradient for Froome to exploit Martin’s climbing Achilles.

Roche lead over the climb and it looked as though the bunch would catch the trio inside the final five kilometers as the gap levelled at 12 seconds. However with Froome still hanging on to his Vuelta form and a fracturing bunch behind, the leaders stayed clear until the final. "The last 15km went really quick. The three of us just rode. We kept each other motivated. There was not much thinking out there, just riding," Roche said.

Froome pushed on at the front as they made their way inside the final 500 meters, before Roche made his move. Although he was marked by Deignan all the way, the RadioShack rider was unable to truly challenge in the sprint and finished almost a bike length down. It still marked his best result of the season which has been affected by a lack of form and illness.

Roche admitted that he had put into practice a precise plan prior to the stage. "I said that I wanted this stage and Jean-Christophe (Péraud) could improve on GC. Everybody worked to that goal and here's the result. There are not a lot of days like this where you announce that you want to win and then it works out!

"On the finishing straight, I saw the bunch come back on me and I told myself, 'no, not today, I can't lose today!'"

For Roche it was an important marker in the 27-year-old’s career. Although he has forged a career as a promising grand tour rider he has lacked a genuinely world class win in his career.

HTC's Tony Martin retained the overall lead and is hopeful of defending the red jersey until the end. "It was the most difficult stage for sure but I expect the next two days to be for the sprinters," Martin said. "I am confident that we can now defend the jersey until Sunday."

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