.jpg) Roche at the1993 Tour de France | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen Roche |
| Born | (1959-11-28)28 November 1959 (age 65) Dundrum,County Dublin,Ireland |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] |
| Weight | 74 kg (163 lb; 11 st 9 lb)[1] |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder |
| Amateur teams | |
| 1974–1979 | Orwell Wheelers |
| 1980 | A.C.B.B. |
| Professional teams | |
| 1981–1983 | Peugeot–Esso–Michelin |
| 1984–1985 | La Redoute |
| 1986–1987 | Carrera–Inoxpran |
| 1988–1989 | Fagor–MBK |
| 1990 | Histor–Sigma |
| 1991 | Tonton Tapis–GB |
| 1992–1993 | Carrera Jeans–Vagabond |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
Other | |
Medal record | |
Stephen Roche (/ˈroʊtʃ/; born 28 November 1959) is anIrish former professionalroad racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only three male cyclists to win theTriple Crown of victories in theTour de France and theGiro d'Italia general classification, plus theWorld road race championship, the others beingEddy Merckx andTadej Pogačar. Roche's rise coincided with that of fellow IrishmanSean Kelly.
Although one of the finest cyclists of his generation and admired for his pedalling style, he struggled with knee injuries and never contended in theGrand Tours post-1987. He had 58 professional career wins.
On completion of his apprenticeship as amachinist in a Dublin dairy and following a successful amateur career in Ireland with the "Orwell Wheelers" club coached by Noel O'Neill of Dundrum (which included winning the Irish Junior Championship in 1977 and theRás Tailteann in 1979), Roche joined theAthletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt amateur team in Paris to prepare for the1980 Olympic games in Moscow. Soon after his arrival Roche won the amateurParis–Roubaix, escaping withDirk Demol and sprinting to victory on the track atRoubaix. Roche was told by hisdirecteur sportif that if he did not win he "would be sent home to Ireland that day".[2]
He also finished on the podium at the early-season Paris–Ezy road race and finished 14th overall in the Sealink International stage race which was won byBob Downs. However, a knee injury caused by a poorly fitted shoe plate led to a disappointing ride in Moscow, where he finished 45th.[3] However, on return to France, August to October saw Roche win 19 races. That led to a contract with thePeugeot professional cycling team for 1981.
Roche scored his first professional victory by beatingBernard Hinault in the Tour of Corsica. Less than a month later he wonParis–Nice (where he became the first, and still the only, new pro to win Paris–Nice) despite illness following the descent from Mont Ventoux. He finished his debut season with victories in the Tour de Corse, Circuit d'Indre-et-Loire andÉtoile des Espoirs races, with a second place behind Hinault in theGrand Prix des Nations. In total, his debut yielded 10 victories.
In 1982 his best performance was second in theAmstel Gold Race behindJan Raas, but his rise continued in 1983 with victories in theTour de Romandie,Grand Prix de Wallonie,Étoile des Espoirs andParis–Bourges. In the 1983Tour de France, Roche finished 13th and he finished the 1983 season with a bronze medal in theworld cycling championship at Alterheim in Zurich.
In 1984, riding forLa Redoute following contractual wrangles withPeugeot (the settlement of which led Roche to sport Peugeot shorts for two years before winning a court action against Vélo Club de Paris Peugeot) he repeated hisTour de Romandie win, wonNice-Alassio,Subida a Arrate and was second inParis–Nice. He finished 25th in that year'sTour de France.[2]
In 1985, Roche won theCritérium International, theRoute du Sud and came second inParis–Nice and third inLiège–Bastogne–Liège. In the 1985Tour de France Roche won stage 18 to the Aubisque and finished on the podium in 3rd position, 4 minutes and 29 seconds behind the winnerBernard Hinault.
In 1986 at a six-day event with UK professionalTony Doyle atParis-Bercy, Roche crashed at speed and damaged his right knee. This destroyed his 1986 season at new teamCarrera–Inoxpran with little to show other than second in a stage of the Giro. Roche finished the 1986Tour de France 48th, 1h 32m behindGreg LeMond, a Tour that Roche described as like "entering a dark tunnel" of pain.[2]
The injury and then associated back problems recurred throughout his career (for example in the 1989 Tour Roche abandoned after banging the problem knee on his handlebars) and a series of operations appeared to only address direct or consequential symptoms of the core injury. Later non-surgical intervention under Dr.Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt in Munich made some difference but the injury required constant care.
By the end of his career Roche was unable to compete at his best because of a back problem which led to a loss of power in the left leg. In retirement, he described riding the 1993 Tour de France "just for fun". He finished 13th, riding forClaudio Chiappucci).
In 1987, Roche had a tremendous season. In the spring, he won theVolta a la Comunitat Valenciana, taking a third victory in theTour de Romandie and fourth place plus a stage win inParis–Nice. He also finished second inLiège–Bastogne–Liège, the closest he got to winning a professional'Monument' Classic. He blamed it on tactical naiveté and "riding like an amateur".
In theGiro d'Italia, Roche took three stage wins (including a team win withCarrera Jeans–Vagabond in the team time trial) en route to overall victory and became the first Giro victor from outside mainland Europe. Roche's stage wins that year in the Giro were stage 1b, the 8 km (5.0 mi) time trial downhill on the Poggio intoSan Remo and stage 22, a 32 km (20 mi) individual time trial into St. Vincent. Despite his stage wins, the race is remembered for the stage fromLido di Jesolo toSappada, where Roche, contravening team orders,[4] broke away alone early and despite being caught late in the race, had the strength to go with the counterattack and take the pink jersey from his teammateRoberto Visentini, who had been previously leading the classification. His behaviour in the stage gained him thetifosi's hatred.[5] It was said the only member of his team that Roche could rely on not to ride against him was his domestiqueEddy Schepers, although Roche recruitedPanasonic riders and old ACBB teammatesRobert Millar and AustralianPhil Anderson to protect him with Schepers on the Marmolada climb (a day known as the "Marmolada Massacre").
Roche finished the Giro exhausted but favourite for theTour de France. FollowingBernard Hinault's retirement,Laurent Fignon's choppy form and withGreg LeMond injured following an accidental shooting while hunting, the 1987 Tour was open. It was also one of the most mountainous since the war, with 25 stages. Roche won the 87.5 km (54.4 mi)individual time trial stage 10 toFuturoscope and came second on stage 19.
On stage 21, crossing the Galibier and Madeleine and finishing atLa Plagne, Roche attacked early, was away for several hours but was caught on the last climb. His nearest rivalPedro Delgado then attacked. Despite being almost one-and-a-half minutes in arrears midway up the last climb, Roche pulled the deficit back to 4 seconds. Roche collapsed and lost consciousness and was given oxygen. When asked when revived if he was okay, he replied "Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite" ("yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away").[5]
The yellow jersey (worn by the leader of thegeneral classification) changed hands several times withCharly Mottet, Roche,Jean François Bernard and Delgado all wearing it before Roche used the final 35 km (22 mi) time trial to overturn a half-minute gap and win the Tour by 40 seconds, which was at the time the second-narrowest margin (in 1968Jan Janssen had beatenHerman Van Springel by 38 seconds; two years after Roche's victory, Greg LeMond beatLaurent Fignon by 8 seconds). Roche became only the fifth cyclist in history to win the Tour and the Giro in the same year. He was also the only Irishman to win the Tour de France. IrishTaoiseachCharles Haughey joined Roche on the podium on theChamps-Élysées.
Later that year, with victory at theWorld road race championship in Villach in Austria, Roche became only the second to win theTriple Crown of Cycling. Roche arrived with insufficient training although he worked during the 23-lap, 278 km (173 mi) undulating terrain for his teammateSean Kelly and escaped in the race-winning break only while covering for his countryman. WithMoreno Argentin in the following group, Kelly did not chase and as the break slowed and jostling for position began for a sprint, Roche attacked 500 m (1,600 ft) from the finish and crossed the line with metres to spare.[5]
Victory in the season-longSuper Prestige Pernod International competition was assured.[2]
Roche was given the freedom ofDublin in late September 1987. Several days later the 1987 edition of theNissan Classic began and Roche rode strongly to finish second behind Kelly.[6]
At the close of 1987, Roche moved toFagor MBK, bringing English ridersSean Yates andMalcolm Elliot,1984 Tour de France King of the Mountains winnerRobert Millar and domestiqueEddy Schepers. The team was criticised for containing too many English speakers.
The 1988 season began badly with a recurrence of the knee injury and Roche began a gradual decline. In 1989 he again took second inParis–Nice (making four second places) and theSetmana Catalana de Ciclisme. Roche finished the1989 Giro d'Italia ninth behindLaurent Fignon. During the1989 Tour de France, Roche withdrew due to his knee.
There were problems with his team and he changed again. In 1990, racing forHistor–Sigma, he won theFour Days of Dunkirk and in 1991 riding forRoger De Vlaeminck'sTonton Tapis–GB brought victories in theSetmana Catalana de Ciclisme and Critérium International. In the1991 Tour de France, Roche missed the start for his team'sTeam time trial and was forced to withdraw due to controversially missing the time cut.[7]
In theGrand Tours, he was ninth in the1989 Giro, and won a stage of the1992 Tour de France in appalling conditions into La Bourboule (again racing forCarrera Jeans–Vagabond but now in support ofClaudio Chiappucci) and en route to a final ninth place. Riding the last edition of theNissan Classic Tour of Ireland, Roche was in many breaks but finished fifth.[8] A year later, he was again ninth in the1993 Giro d'Italia and 13th in the1993 Tour de France.[9]
Roche retired at the end of an anonymous 1993 which yielded a single win, in the post-Tour de France criterium atChateau Chinon.
"I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs whether banned or unbanned, on or off the list, at any time. In fact, I underwent hundreds of tests during my career and all were negative."
In May 1990,Paul Kimmage – a former professional and teammate of Roche atFagor, as well as a fellow Dubliner – published an account of life in the peloton. His bookRough Ride exposed drug use apparently endemic in the peloton but spoke in fawning terms about Roche. Despite this, the publication resulted in a threat of litigation from Roche.
It was reported in the Rome newspaper,La Repubblica, in January 2000 thatFrancesco Conconi, a professor at theUniversity of Ferrara involved with administeringerythropoietin (EPO) to riders on theCarrera team with which Roche had some of his best years, had provided riders including Roche with EPO. Roche denied the allegations.[10] This was further reported inThe Irish Times several days later, Roche again denying EPO.[11] In March 2000 the Italian judge Franca Oliva published a report detailing the investigation into sports doctors including Conconi.[12] This official judicial investigation unequivocally found that Roche was administered EPO in 1993, his last year in the peloton.[13]Files from part of the investigation allegedly detail a number of aliases for Roche including Rocchi, Rossi, Rocca, Roncati, Righi and Rossini.[14] In 2004 Judge Oliva again alleged that Roche had taken EPO during 1993 but due to the statute of limitations, neither Roche nor his teammates at Carrera would be prosecuted.[15]
Roche lives inAntibes on theCôte d'Azur. Roche remained involved in the sport by founding cycling camps inMajorca, taking part in race organisations and working as a commentator on cycling events forEurosport.
He has four children with his former wife Lydia; the couple divorced in 2004. One son,Nicolas Roche, was a professional until his retirement in 2021,[16] and was the 2009 and 2016Irish National Road Race Champion.
Stephen's brotherLawrence Roche was also a professional cyclist who completed his only Tour de France in 1991. They were teammates on theTonton Tapis–GB team.
Roche's nephewDan Martin was also a professional cyclist and was the 2008Irish National Road Race Champion.
Roche completed the 2008 New York Marathon in a time of 4:21:09.[17]
In April 2022 a Spanish court found Roche guilty of fraud and ordered him to repay €733,866 to creditors of his bankrupt cycling holiday company inMajorca. The court determined he had funded his lifestyle with the company's assets instead of paying back creditors.[18]
Source:[19]
Road race,National Junior Road ChampionshipsIrish National Elite Cyclo-Cross Championships
OverallRás Tailteann
OverallParis–Nice OverallÉtoile des Espoirs OverallTour d'Indre-et-Loire
OverallTour de Romandie OverallÉtoile des Espoirs
Road race,UCI Road World Championships OverallTour de Romandie Points classification OverallCritérium International
OverallTour Midi-Pyrénées
Road race,UCI Road World Championships OverallTour de France
OverallGiro d'Italia
after Stages 4–6 OverallTour de Romandie OverallVolta a la Comunitat Valenciana OverallTour of the Basque Country OverallFour Days of Dunkirk OverallCritérium International OverallSetmana Catalana de Ciclisme| Grand Tour general classification results | ||||||||||||||||
| Grand Tour | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | |||
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | 1 | — | 9 | — | — | — | 9 | |||
| Tour de France | — | — | 13 | 25 | 3 | 48 | 1 | — | DNF | 44 | DNF | 9 | 13 | |||
| Major stage race general classification results | ||||||||||||||||
| Race | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | |||
| Paris–Nice | 1 | 6 | — | 2 | 2 | — | 4 | — | 2 | 2 | 4 | — | — | |||
 Tirreno–Adriatico | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | 21 | |||
| Tour of the Basque Country | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 22 | |||
| Tour de Romandie | — | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | |||
 Critérium du Dauphiné | 26 | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | |||
| Tour de Suisse | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | |||
 Volta a Catalunya | Did not contest during his career | |||||||||||||||
| — | Did not compete |
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| DNF | Did not finish |
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*In 1912, Giro was contested solely by teams, with no individual classification |
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| Other | |
