Things I had forgotten about Stephen Roche...

Fender76

1/ That he turned up late for the '91 TDF prologue TTT and was disqualified (not before he chased after his Ton Ton Tapis team to try and catch them, effectively riding a solo TTT).

2/ That he won the 9th stage of the '92 TDF.

3/ That he finished his career with Carrera.

mloc123

4/ That he owns a hotel in the south of France... doen't mention it much

iMax

He likes cheese

Fender76

He likes cheese

That must have been why he was late... he was all whacked out on Galtee....

kincsem

Fender76 wrote: »

1/ That he turned up late for the '91 TDF prologue TTT and was disqualified (not before he chased after his Ton Ton Tapis team to try and catch them, effectively riding a solo TTT).

And he said "you can not disqualify me, you can only eliminate me" before he set off after them afair.

RobFowl

:eek:

RobFowl

In his last year at Carerra he was teammates with both Claudio Chiapucci and Marco Pantani.

Beasty

There are loads of things I have forgotten about Stephen Roche - I've no idea what they are though...:)

moby2101

mloc123 wrote: »

4/ That he owns a hotel in the south of France... doen't mention it much[/QUOTE

Hi

Roches Hotel, The Roche Marina Hotel is in Villeneuve-Loubet in the South of France between Antibes and Nice.
He manages it himself and is 100% hands on.

He's usually out on the bike in the early morning but if you drop by for a chat or whatevever he'll always say "Hi" and sign an autograph or pose for a photograph.
He's an absolute Gent

Jawgap

Sean Kelly, Martin Earley and Paul Kimmage were on the Irish team with him in Austria when he won the World Championship

Fender76

I don't think he ever got to wear his rainbow jersey... except maybe for the Niassan Classic....

RobFowl

Jawgap wrote: »

Sean Kelly, Martin Earley and Paul Kimmage were on the Irish team with him in Austria when he won the World Championship

Don't forget Alan McCormack .....

Muller_1

As well as winning the trebble in 1987 he was 3rd overall in the Tour de France in 1985

When he won his first stage in the 1985 Tour he wore a skin suit on the road stage

http://www.ina.fr/sport/cyclisme/video/I00010254/victoire-de-stephen-roche-au-sommet-de-l-aubisque.fr.html

Jawgap

RobFowl wrote: »

Don't forget Alan McCormack .....

Had to look him up and found this........

......there is hope for us all yet!!!!

ROK ON

When he won the Giro he had only one teammate helping him. (eddie schepers IIRC). He got assistance from an Robert Millar in the mountains. Millar was an amateur teammate of Roche when at ACBB.
The pivotal event in that years Giro became known as The Marmolada Massacre.
Millar for his troubles won the mountain jersey.

Fender76

Thats right... I remember that.. Remember the way the Italian fans treated him because he had the jersey over his Carrera teammate Viscotti or whatever his name was... they spat at him and booed him... Italians... but he won them over in the end...

irishmotorist

He used to be a milkman!

Collumbo

irishmotorist wrote: »

He used to be a milkman!

Not only that... he worked my old Milkman! (who passed away 13 years ago). He had good memories. Second hand information of course so I don't know if it's true, but he told me how he remembered Stephen riding off to Galway on a Friday after work... and he'd ride back the following day. You'd have to ask Stephen of course if that's true.. but it probably is if ya think about it! This would have been the year before he went to ACBB

Junior

He rallied a 205 GTi for a while..

kincsem

irishmotorist wrote: »

He used to be a milkman!

Delivering to our house.

jiffybag

He was the last man to win the Rainbow jersey whist using toe-clips and straps.

Captain Havoc

He was the first person to appear in colour on the front page of the Irish Times.

templer27

He was brilliant at time trials,extremely brave and wore his heart on his sleeve.Great desender bad sprinter read a race very well,had a brilliant pedaling style.I think Alberto Contador is quite similar in some regards,Contador is a better climber though.

easygoing39

Junior wrote: »

He rallied a 205 GTi for a while..

And a Ibiza and Cossie Escort

michaelm

irishmotorist wrote: »

He used to be a milkman!

Wasn't he also a plumber?

Jeffm587

Fitter turner I think

sy

What I loved about Roche was his ballsey approach to riding. He was always willing to attack.... anybody remember the 1985 worlds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewA2Ssh8jVM

happytramp

ROK ON wrote: »

When he won the Giro he had only one teammate helping him. (eddie schepers IIRC). He got assistance from an Robert Millar in the mountains. Millar was an amateur teammate of Roche when at ACBB.
The pivotal event in that years Giro became known as The Marmolada Massacre.
Millar for his troubles won the mountain jersey.

When it's said he had to enlist a group of riders on opposing teams to form a protective ring around him during this stage, what exactly does it mean? Protect him from whom?

michaelm

Jeffm587 wrote: »

Fitter turner I think

Correct actually now that I think of it.

Fender76

When it's said he had to enlist a group of riders on opposing teams to form a protective ring around him during this stage, what exactly does it mean? Protect him from whom?

From the Italians basically.... Roche's Italian teammate Roberto Viscentini was favourite to win on home ground but Roche was the better rider and found himself in the malliot rose so he had to fight all the way to the finish against the Italian riders who wanted to to sabotage his race in favour of a home win....

bcmf

He came to visit us in school back in'85 (I think). He rode with Orwell afaik and a classmates father trained him. His son (the trainer's son) was in my class and brought us in to visit on trip home.