The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by

Jim Ochowicz Jim Ochowicz (born December 23, 1951) is a former Olympic bicyclist and manager of UCI WorldTeam . He served as president of the USA Cycling Board of Directors from 2002 to 2006.http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3512 Mark Abramson ...

, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist. The team lasted 16 years, under the sponsorship of

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

through 1990 and then

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

from 1990 through 1996. From 1989 to 1996 it rode on Eddy Merckx bikes.

History

7-Eleven was formed as an amateur cycling team in 1981 by Ochowicz, a 29-year-old former Olympic cyclist from the U.S., who was married to Olympic speed skating gold medalist

Sheila Young Sheila Grace Young-Ochowicz (born October 14, 1950) is a retired American speed skater and track cyclist. She won three world titles in each of these sports, twice in the same year (in 1973 and 1976). In 1976, she also became the first American ...

. Ochowicz had managed the U.S. national speed-skating team and was friends with Eric and Beth Heiden, who were both excellent cyclists as well as champion speed skaters. He managed to get sponsorship from the Southland Corporation, owners of the

convenience-store chain, and bicycle manufacturer Schwinn to form an amateur team. Of the seven men on the inaugural 7-Eleven-Schwinn team racing in 1981, Eric Heiden (who swept the gold medals in speed skating in the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

) was the captain and the best known. The other Americans were Jeff Bradley, Greg Demgen, Bradley Davies,

Tom Schuler Tom Schuler (born November 28, 1956 in Birmingham, Michigan) is a retired American professional road bicycle racer and founder of Team Sports Inc., a sports management company in cycling, mountain biking, triathlon, and roller blading. Since 2006, ...

Danny Van Haute Danny Van Haute (born October 22, 1956) is an American former cyclist. Van Haute qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. He was one ...

and Roger Young (Ochowicz's brother-in-law). They were joined by

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Ron Hayman Ron Hayman (born August 31, 1954) was one of the first Canadian cyclists to turn professional in the late 1970s, inspiring those following like fellow Canadian Alex Stieda. Hayman later became a Canadian cycling coach and entrepreneur, and was r ...

. Although Schwinn dropped out as a co-sponsor in 1982, 7-Eleven added a women's team with Rebecca Twigg, among others, as well as more male riders, including Davis Phinney, Ron Kiefel and Canadian

Alex Stieda Alexander Nicholas Ernst Stieda (born April 13, 1961) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Canada. Stieda led five classifications of the Tour de France on the second day of the 1986 Tour de France: the general classification, the ...

. The all-amateur 7-Eleven team was featured in the 1985 movie ''

American Flyers ''American Flyers'' is a 1985 American sports drama film about bicycle racing directed by John Badham and starring Kevin Costner, David Grant, Rae Dawn Chong, Alexandra Paul, Luca Bercovici and Janice Rule. It was written by Steve Tesich. P ...

'', starring

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

. The 1986 Cycling Media Guide published for the 1986 World Championships lists Jeff Bradley, Chris Carmichael, Alexi Grewal, Eric Heiden, Ron Kiefel, Davis Phinney, Bob Roll, Tom Schuler, Doug Shapiro and Alex Stieda with an additional group of amateur men on the team including Frankie Andreu, Curt Harnett, David Lettieri, Robert Mathis, Leonard "Harvey" Nitz and Russell Scott. Southland continued its commitment by sponsoring the cycling venue at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles, where nine Americans won cycling medals. The other (especially equipment) sponsors of the team included Descente, Huffy, Campagnolo, and Tag Heuer. Often, those sponsors elected not to continue after their initial contracts were completed. In 1985, Ochowitz changed the men's team's status to professional and asked

Mike Neel Michael Neel (born July 18, 1951) is an American former cyclist. He competed in the individual road race event at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Then, as a new professional, at the 1976 Professional World Road Race, he finished in 10th place He wa ...

to be the directeur sportif in Europe. The team went to Europe with an initial roster of members including Olympic gold medalists Alexi Grewal and Heiden, Olympic bronze medalists Phinney and Kiefel, Bradley, Schuler, Hayman, Stieda, and Chris Carmichael. When the team received an invitation to the

1985 Giro d'Italia The 1985 Giro d'Italia was the 68th running of the Giro. It started in Palermo, on 16 May, with a prologue and concluded in Lucca, on 9 June, with a individual time trial. A total of 180 riders from twenty teams entered the 22-stage race, ...

, one of the Grand Tours of Europe, a young American cyclist based in Europe named

Andrew Hampsten Andrew Hampsten (born April 7, 1962) is an American former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1988 Giro d'Italia and the Alpe d'Huez stage of the 1992 Tour de France. Between 1986–1994 he finished in the Top 10 of eight Grand Tour ...

was added to the team under a 30-day contract for the race. After both Kiefel and Hampsten stunningly won stages during the Giro, becoming the first American stage winners ever at a Grand Tour, 7-Eleven was invited to the

1986 Tour de France The 1986 Tour de France was a cycling race held in France, from 4 July to 27 July. It was the 73rd running of the Tour de France. Greg LeMond of won the race, ahead of his teammate Bernard Hinault. It was the first ever victory for a rider outs ...

and became one of the major cycling teams for the next decade, under the sponsorship of Southland through 1990 and then Motorola through 1996. Ochowicz disbanded the team after the 1996 season, when Motorola decided to discontinue sponsorship. While it was not the first professional cycling team in the U.S., 7-Eleven was responsible for an overall increase in bike racing interest in the U.S. The team claimed a win in a Grand Tour, when

won the general classification as well as the

mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...

at the

1988 Giro d'Italia The 1988 Giro d'Italia was the 71st running of the race. It started in Urbino, on 23 May, with a individual time trial and concluded in Vittorio Veneto, on 12 June, with a individual time trial. A total of 180 riders from 20 teams entered t ...

(Tour of Italy). It also claimed a handful of world championship medals and US championships, as well as

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

and Giro stage wins and one more Grand Tour podium (Hampsten's third in the

1989 Giro d'Italia The 1989 Giro d'Italia was the 72nd edition of the race. It started off in Taormina on 21 May with a flat stage that ended in Catania. The race concluded in Florence with a individual time trial on 11 June. Twenty-two teams entered the race ...

). It was the second U.S. team to ride the Giro d'Italia (1985) (the Gianni Motta team was the first in 1984) and in the Tour de France (1986), where two Canadian riders on the team held the yellow jersey on different occasions (

in 1986 and Steve Bauer in 1990). Its Tour de France stage winners included Phinney, Jeff Pierce, Hampsten, Sean Yates and Dag Otto Lauritzen from Norway. In 1989 Brian Walton won the pro-am Milk Race (Tour of Britain). As of 2009, Team 7-Eleven is the only cycling team to have been inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.

Bike sponsor

Three bike manufacturers sponsored the team throughout the years: Schwinn from 1981 to 1984,

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

from 1985 to 1986, Huffy from 1987 to 1988, although the team bikes from 1985 to 1988 were primarily built by Ben Serotta. Finally Eddy Merckx sponsored the team from 1989 through their ultimate cessation in 1996. For Eddy Merckx, sponsoring the American team had a special meaning. Eddy Merckx said:

Race radios

During Motorola's sponsorship of the team in the 1990s, the riders began communicating with the team cars through the use of two-way radios built by Motorola. The radios were slowly adopted through the rest of the professional peloton, becoming standard equipment by 2002. Acceptance of these radios was hastened by the success in the Tour de France of former Motorola rider Lance Armstrong, who continued to use a race radio when he joined the

U.S. Postal Service cycling team U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team was a United States-based professional road bicycle racing team. On June 15, 2004, the Discovery Channel signed a deal to become sponsor of the team for the 2004–2007 seasons and its name changed to Disc ...

Major wins

;1985 : National Road Race Championships, Eric Heiden :

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the Gr ...

, Ron Kiefel :Stage 15 Giro d'Italia, Ron Kiefel :Stage 20 Giro d'Italia,

;1986 :Stage 3

, Davis Phinney ;1987 : National Road Race Championships,

: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt, Dag Otto Lauritzen : Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

:Stage 12

, Davis Phinney :Stage 14

, Dag Otto Lauritzen :Stage 25

, Jeff Pierce ;1988 :

Giro di Toscana The Giro di Toscana is a road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was not held in 2015. On 4 April 2016 it was announced that the race will r ...

, Ron Kiefel : National Road Race Championships, Ron Kiefel :Stage 3

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlookin ...

:Stage 3 Tour de Romandie,

Bob Roll Bob "Bobke" Roll (born July 7, 1960 in Oakland, California) is an American former professional cyclist, author, and television sports commentator. He was a member of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team until 1990 and competed for the Motorola Cycling Team ...

:Stage 5 Tour de Romandie, Davis Phinney : Jersey pink

Overall Giro d'Italia,

King of the Mountains Classification ::Stages 12 & 18,

;1989 :

Grand Prix Eddy Merckx Grand Prix Eddy Merckx was a cycle race around Brussels, where Eddy Merckx was born. It was held between 1980 and 2004, disappearing after the creation of the UCI ProTour in 2005. The race was initially an individual time trial, becoming a Team ti ...

, Sean Yates :Overall

Tour de Belgique The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Betw ...

, Sean Yates :Stage 2 Tour de Romandie,

jens Veggerby Jens Veggerby (born 20 October 1962) is a retired Danish cyclist. During his professional career that spanned 15 years from 1984 to 1999 he competed in 89 six-day races and won 13 of them: in Copenhagen (1989, 1991, 1993 and 1997), Antwerp (1992 ...

:Overall

Tour de Trump The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held annually between 1989 and 1996, initially called the Tour de Trump in the first two years. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestige ...

. Dag-Otto Lauritzen : Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian,

Gerhard Zadrobilek Gerhard Zadrobilek (born 23 June 1961) is an Austrian former professional road bicycling racer. Major results ;1981 :1st, Overall, Tour of Austria ;1984 :1st, Chur-Arosa ;1987 :1st, Giro del Veneto :14th, Tour de France ;1989 :1st, Clásica de ...

: Urkiola Igoera - Subida Urkiola,

;1990 :Stage 1 Etoile de Besseges,

Scott McKinley Scott McKinley (born October 15, 1968) is an American former cyclist. He competed in the road race at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Major results Sources: ;1986 : 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Dusika Jugend Tour : 8th World Junior Road race ;1989 : 1st Ho ...

:Stage 1

Nathan Dahlberg Nathan Dahlberg (born 22 February 1964) is a former New Zealand racing cyclist. He rode in the Tour de France in 1988 and 1989 and was 39th in the 1990 Giro d'Italia. Dahlberg spent his career being a domestique for other riders and occasionall ...

:Stage 7

: Urkiola Igoera - Subida Urkiola,

;1991 :Overall

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

, Phil Anderson : Wateringse Wielerdag, Phil Anderson :Stage 5

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

, Sean Yates :Stage 8

, Phil Anderson :Stage 10

, Phil Anderson ;1992 :Overall Jersey yellow

Tour de Romandie, Sean Yates ::Stage 3 Tour de Romandie,

::Stage 5 Tour de Romandie, Maximilian Sciandri :Stage 14

:Stage 2 Giro d'Italia, Maximilian Sciandri : National Road Race Championship, Sean Yates :

GP d´Isbergues Gp or GP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * Gameplanet (New Zealand), a New Zealand video game community * GamePolitics.com, a blog about the politics of computer and video games * ''GamePro'', a monthly video game magazine * ...

, Phil Anderson ;1993 : National Road Race Championship, Lance Armstrong :Overall Tour of Sweden, Phil Anderson : Giro del Veneto, Maximilian Sciandri : Coppa Placci, Maximilian Sciandri :Overall

Tour de Luxembourg The Tour de Luxembourg is an annual stage race in professional road bicycle racing held in Luxembourg. The Tour de Luxembourg is classified as a 2.Pro race, the highest rating below the World Tour, by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the ...

, Maximilian Sciandri :

:Stage 8

, Lance Armstrong :World Road Race Championship, Lance Armstrong : Grand Prix de Fourmies, Maximilian Sciandri :Overall

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of th ...

, Alvaro Mejia Castrillon : GP Raymond Impanis, Phil Anderson ;1994 : GP Herning, Brian Smith :Overall Route du Sud, Alvaro Mejia Castrillon : National Road Race Championship, Brian Smith :Stage 6

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne (Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages ...

, Frankie Andreu ;1995 : Profronde van Almelo,

Max van Heeswijk Max Lambert Peter van Heeswijk (born 2 March 1973 in Hoensbroek, Limburg) is a Dutch retired professional road racing cyclist. He finished 15th road race at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 17th in the road race at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Caree ...

: Criterium Woerden,

Wiebren Veenstra Wiebren Veenstra (born 8 December 1966) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist. He rode in two editions of the Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while al ...

: Acht van Chaam, George Hincapie :Stage 5

, Lance Armstrong :Stage 2

:Stage 18

, Lance Armstrong : Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian, Lance Armstrong ;1996 :

Vuelta a Castilla y León The Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y León is a professional road bicycle stage race held in Castile and León, Spain. Since 2005, Vuelta a Castilla y León has been a part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicyc ...

, Andrea Peron :Stage 8a

, Maximilian Sciandri : La Flèche Wallonne, Lance Armstrong

References

External links

1986 Tour de France Profile of 7/11 TeamInside Cycling with John Wilcockson: The boys from 7-Eleven and the debut of American pro road racing (VeloNews)Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: The “premature” Tour of America, and a Phinney first (VeloNews)
Defunct cycling teams based in the United States

Cycling Team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...