Team Sunweb's Nicolas Roche tells how he survived eight weeks of confinement in a Monaco apartment. With the help of a home trainer, Zwift, and friends on social media, time has passed and now the veteran Irish rider is free to train outside again.

"When I woke up, I felt motivated," Roche told L'Equipe on Tuesday. The previous week, Monaco's coronavirus quarantine was eased, allowing pro riders to train outside for the first time since mid-March. But "But I decided to see what the weather was like and see my family for the first time in two months instead, and I managed without riding my bike for 55 days, so I'm not sure how I'll manage that.

On Tuesday, he tweeted: "Feels so good to be on the road again!" This message was accompanied by a photo that made it look as if he had just left the Principality of Monaco and was on the roads of France. Since French-based athletes are only allowed to drive outside starting Monday, Roche apparently waited until this week to get out and into France.

"I'm surprised I made it through without jumping off the balcony," the 35-year-old Roche joked to L'Equipe magazine about his time spent in his apartment. I was a little worried at first," he said. But I made a WhatsApp group with (Sunweb teammate) Michael Matthews, my brother, and a friend, downloaded Zoom, and we did indoor rides together every morning (at 10:30 to be exact)."

"It was totally different than riding together outdoors, the social aspect was important," Roche continued. "We attacked each other on the climbs, got frustrated with each other, laughed together. ...... It was fun, but it was essential for me.

"I may be the only one to admit that," he added. I didn't gain a single kilo in particular, but the bottle of red wine I'd drink over FaceTime with my friends for Saturday morning aperitifs also saved me." Also, my friends in the peloton knew I was living alone and sent me many happy emails.

"Before, the most I could spend on my home trainer was an hour and a half; I didn't even have Zwift, but it was set up on the first day of my housing. My trainer was so old that my neighbors thought I had a Jacuzzi on my balcony because of the noise it made."

"But then," - perhaps getting a new home trainer - "I really started to get into it and started running an average of 20+ hours a week. Before the virtual Tour of Flanders, I saw my name at the bottom of the list of participants.

Following his third place at the Virtual Tour of Flanders using the "Bkool" indoor training platform, Roche won the "Digital Swiss 5" indoor stage race using "Rouvy" in late April.

"I didn't have a wife, kids, or pets in my apartment, so I could either watch Netflix or go to the balcony to train. If I had a yard, I would have taken care of the pool and the lawn," Roche said. 'Going to the home trainer wasn't my only job, but I was lucky to have one.'