A straightforward approach to a novel class of ribo-type cyclohexenyl nucleosides is described. An electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction forms the key-step of the chosen synthetic pathway. Although the difference is small, conformational analysis using NMR shows that this nucleoside analogue adopts preferentially an 2H3 conformation (S-type), while the “deoxy” cyclohexenyl analogue has a preference for a C3'endo conformation (N- ...