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 Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

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 The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

and

Beth Heiden Beth may refer to: Letter and number *Bet (letter), or beth, the second letter of the Semitic abjads (writing systems) *Hebrew word for "house", often used in the name of synagogues and schools (e.g. Beth Israel) Name *Beth (given name) lists p ...

, 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 The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was originally founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manuf ...

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 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 Rebecca Twigg (born March 26, 1963) is an American former racing cyclist. Cycling career An academic prodigy, she enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle at the age of 14 and rode for the school's team. US national team coach Eddie ...

, among others, as well as more male riders, including

Davis Phinney Davis Phinney (born July 10, 1959) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States. He won 328 races in the 1980s and 1990s, a record for an American, including two Tour de France stages. He has worked in media since retiring ...

Ron Kiefel Ronald Alexander Kiefel (born April 11, 1960 in Denver) is a former professional road bicycle racer from the United States. Kiefel is a seven-time Tour de France racer, Olympic bronze medalist and member of the United States Bicycling Hall of Fa ...

and Canadian Alex Stieda. The all-amateur 7-Eleven team was featured in the 1985 movie '' American Flyers'', 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 A ''directeur sportif'' ( French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

in Europe. The team went to Europe with an initial roster of members including Olympic gold medalists

Alexi Grewal Alexi Singh Grewal (born September 8, 1960) is an American Olympic gold medalist and former professional road racing cyclist. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Grewal became the first American man to win an Olympic gold medal in road ...

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, 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 The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...

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). 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 ( Alex Stieda in 1986 and

Steve Bauer Steven Todd Bauer, MSM (born June 12, 1959) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from Canada. He won the first Olympic medal in road cycling for Canada and until 2022 he was the only Canadian to win an individual stage of the Tour de Fr ...

in 1990). Its Tour de France stage winners included Phinney, Jeff Pierce, Hampsten,

Sean Yates Sean Yates (born 18 May 1960) is an English former professional cyclist and directeur sportif. Career Yates competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, finishing sixth in the 4,000m individual pursuit. As an amateur in 1980, he won the British 25-mi ...

and

Dag Otto Lauritzen Dag Otto Lauritzen (born 12 September 1956) is a Norwegian television personality and retired professional cyclist. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles he won a bronze medal in the individual road race. He was the first Norwegian to win ...

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 The United States Bicycling Hall of Fame, located in Davis, California, is a private 501c3 non-profit organization formed to preserve and promote the sport of cycling. The organization was founded in 1986 in Somerville, New Jersey and has inducte ...

Bike sponsor

Three bike manufacturers sponsored the team throughout the years:

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 The Huffy Corporation is a supplier of bicycles with headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Early history It has its roots in 1887 when George P. Huffman purchased the Davis Sewing Machine Company and in 1890 moved its sewing machine f ...

from 1987 to 1988, although the team bikes from 1985 to 1988 were primarily built by Ben Serotta. Finally

sponsored the team from 1989 through their ultimate cessation in 1996. For Eddy Merckx, sponsoring the American team had a special meaning.

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 Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...

, who continued to use a race radio when he joined the U.S. Postal Service cycling team.

Major wins

;1985 : National Road Race Championships,

Eric Heiden Eric Arthur Heiden (born June 14, 1958) is an American physician and a former long track speed skater, road cyclist and track cyclist. He won an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at th ...

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 ...

:Stage 15 Giro d'Italia,

:Stage 20 Giro d'Italia,

;1986 :Stage 3

;1987 : National Road Race Championships,

: Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt,

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

:Stage 14

: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 ...

: National Road Race Championships,

: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 The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. I ...

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

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 An individual tim ...

: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 ...

:Stage 2

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 ...

:Stage 8

, Phil Anderson :Stage 10

, Phil Anderson ;1992 :Overall Jersey yellow

::Stage 3

::Stage 5

Maximilian Sciandri Maximilian Sciandri (born 15 February 1967) is a retired British road racing cyclist of Italian descent. He competed as an Italian national up to February 1995, then took British citizenship. He won the bronze medal in the men's individual road ...

:Stage 14

:Stage 2 Giro d'Italia,

: National Road Race Championship,

: GP d´Isbergues, Phil Anderson ;1993 : National Road Race Championship,

:Overall

Tour of Sweden The Tour of Sweden (or Postgirot Open) was an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's f ...

, Phil Anderson :

Giro del Veneto The Giro del Veneto is a classic cycle races, semi classic European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in the region of Veneto, Italy. The race is a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2012 the race merged with another Italian classic, Coppa ...

Coppa Placci The Coppa Placci is a semi classic European bicycle race held between Imola, Italy and San Marino. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race is named after Antonio Placci, a cyclist born in Imola w ...

: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 ...

:Stage 8

:World Road Race Championship,

Grand Prix de Fourmies The Grand Prix de Fourmies is a bicycle race held in the Fourmies commune of France. Since 2005 it has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which we ...

:Overall Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Alvaro Mejia Castrillon : GP Raymond Impanis, Phil Anderson ;1994 :

GP Herning Grand Prix Herning is a one-day road bicycle race, held in '' Midtjylland'', Denmark. The race is organised by Herning Bicycle Club with both start and goal in Herning. The race is characterised by its gravel paths, which result in multiple punc ...

, Brian Smith :Overall

Route du Sud The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de France ...

, 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 Francisco "Frankie" Andreu (born September 26, 1966) is an American former professional cyclist whose career highlights include riding as team captain of the U.S. Postal Service cycling team in 1998, 1999 and 2000. During his career, he won a n ...

;1995 :

Profronde van Almelo Profronde van Almelo ( en, Prof tour of Almelo) is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in Almelo, Netherlands. The first edition was in 1983 and since 2008 the event also includes a women's race. In 1987 ...

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. Car ...

: 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 Acht van Chaam ( en, Eight of Chaam) is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in Chaam, Netherlands. The first edition was in 1932 and since 1992 the event also includes a women's race. Results Men S ...

George Hincapie George Anthony Hincapie (born June 29, 1973) is an American former racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 1994 and 2012. Hincapie was a key domestique of Lance Armstrong. Hincapie was also a domestique for Alberto Contador in 2007 an ...

:Stage 5

:Stage 2

:Stage 18

: Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian,

;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 bi ...

, Andrea Peron :Stage 8a

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...

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 ...

Cycling teams established in 1981 Cycling teams disestablished in 1996 1981 establishments in the United States 1996 disestablishments in the United States

History

Bike sponsor

Race radios

Major wins

References

Further reading

External links