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.