In a surprise move, the WorldTour team AG2R announced that Nicolas Roche would not be part of their roster contesting the 2012 Tour de France due to a conflict with mandatory UCI schooling.
How much of his autobiography did Roche actually write?
“The UCI has notified us that Roche is required to enroll in English grammar classes, in order to have his proficiency reach the required WorldTour levels. The UCI requires all riders to be fluent in at least one native language. Unfortunately, Irish isn’t one, and we’re working hard to get his English up to par,” commented general manager Vincent Lavenu.
UCI WorldTour rules state that each rider must have basic native language proficiency in order to receive their licence, and that a temporary licence can be issued for six months to allow for the completion of the testing.
Cyclismas has learned through leaked documentation that Roche has failed the UCI test three times, and that the UCI has allegedly covered up the failures. When reached for comment UCI spokesperson Enrico Carpani was definitive in his answer.
“There is no conspiracy. Nicolas has not completed his mandatory language test requirement. I cannot confirm or deny that he has taken the test in the past, but he is scheduled to take it in July. It unfortunately means he cannot be at the Tour de France this year,” stated Carpani.
This does call into question how much of his autobiography, Inside the Peloton, was written by the professional cyclist. His latest defense of the autobiography on Twitter in a conversation with Cyclismas contributor @fmk_RoI confirmed the need for classes to shore up his English-language proficiency.
New Peloton Magazine editor-at-large John Wilcockson was quick to defend Roche, “The lad is great on his bike, and he has started creating phenomenal new words for the cycling language, including the brilliant word ‘determinated’ which he used with class on Twitter yesterday.”
Roche refused to clarify any statements in English. However, score.ie did provide transcripts of some of his tweets, sadly highlighting the need for UCI grammar courses.
Lavenu confirmed that John Gadret would be the sole leader for AG2R at the Tour.
4 Comments
Wikipedia: Irish (Gaeilge), also known as Irish Gaelic,[1] is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a small minority (approx. 72,000) of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of the population. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland. It is an official language of the European Union and an officially recognised minority language in Northern Ireland.
I don’t know why the UCI feels the need to dictate to their members, which languages are native or not. Mr. Roche’s native language appears to be Irish Gaelic. and I understood his second language English, from his tweets, with no problem. He can sign a check can’t he? What’s the dang deal?
Frank Mercer, author/ journalist. You sir are the self proclaimed cycling snark? Snark, that’s an xxxhole isn’t it? Did Roche spit on you or what? Long shot, you’re PR for AG2R maybe buddies with Gadret .
Cyclismis: this kind of journalism “sadly highlights the need” for edi …. no, wait a sec….heh you got me, didn’t ya? It’s a joke right, Ya “JOKE JOURNALISM ” I get it !!…..Man!! …. Wow, you really got me, toooo funny!!
Right?
Mr. Roche was raised in both France and Ireland and is very proficient in both languages. He is an accomplished rider with a great sense of humor, and discovering the ins and outs of twitter.
I am not self proclaimed at anything. I just write the stories, and hope to bring broader attention to the nuances pro cycling, the greatest sport on the planet, which I have had the luck of being able to cover for 30 years.
Satire and humor are two of the greatest devices in the written word. Sorry if it may have offended you, as that is not the intention. Thanks for reading.
Frank
I’ve seen/ heard interviews with Roche, he can speak english just fine. So he failed the english tests a few times, his spellings in twitter are highlighted too . . .Stop and think for a minute folks, could the guy have a reading writing issue? Give the guy a flippin break!!! Cop on!Its not those kind of tests we need to worry about cyclists failing. What a complete farce
[…] Both boys are writing diaries for different Irish newspapers during the Tour: Nico in the Irish Independent and Dan for the Irish Times. Nico’s recent book Inside the Peloton was largely based on his previous diaries for the same newspaper and gives the reader some insight into the highs and lows on the road. Of course this year’s Tour could have been oh so different if we’re to believe the tongue-firmly-in-cheek and amusing reports from Cyclismas. […]