Nicolas Roche has got his preparations for the Giro d'Italia off to a bad start as a niggling knee injury is forcing him to stop completely for two weeks. With his main target being more than four months away, the Irishman is, however, not fearing that it will have a major impact on his performance in the Italian race.

After riding to a strong 5th, winning a stage and wearing the leader's jersey in the 2013 Vuelta a Espana, Nicolas Roche has earned himself the confidence from the Team Tinkoff-Saxo management and has been given the role of leader for this year's edition of the Giro d'Italia. With the race starting in Belfast and spending three days on Irish soil, Roche is looking forward to his unique chance to ride a major race in front of his home crowd.

However, the Irishman has got his preparation off to a bad start. At the Tinkoff-Saxo training camp in November, he started to feel pain in his knee and after continuing his training for a month, he has now had an MRI scan to find out that he needs to have a complete break for training. He has had problems with his knees since injuring them while playing soccer as a 15-year-old.

 “There was a bit of a pain in the knee, but I thought that was normal,” he told Velonation. “I was just going to continue what I was doing. But after two, three weeks it was like, ‘ooof’ - the pain was still there.

“I went for a MRI five days ago and we realised that I had torn the tendon which connects the quads to the knee. I have a micro tear in that part. The doctor told me to stop completely for two weeks. So I’ve another week or ten days to go.”

Roche has spent the New Year in Madrid with his girlfriend and will continue to train in the gym. Later in January, he will attend the Tinkoff-Saxo training camp but will not do the full training regimen as he is careful not to start too early.

“I am behind on time but it is not a catastrophe," he said. "What is most important is that I don’t start too quick, that I let it heal. Usually with these things, the problem is the pain goes away before the tear is fully healed. I need to make sure I don’t get back on the bike too soon. That is the only thing."

Roche is set to start his season at the Tour of Oman and will then do the Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-Sanremo. He doesn't expect to change his schedule but admits that it will have an impact on his performance. However, he doesn't expect the injury to have an influence on his Giro results.

“Obviously it will affect me being in good condition in Oman and maybe Tirreno, but I am pretty sure it is not going to affect the Giro," he said. "That race is still over four months away, so I have time to be fit by then."