Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most commo ...

. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the

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 the Giro d'Italia general classification, plus the World road race championship, the first was

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 ...

. Roche's rise coincided with that of fellow Irishman Sean 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 the Grand Tours post-1987. He had 58 professional career wins. All of these wins still stand, despite Roche having been accused by an Italian judge of taking EPO in the later part of his career.

Early life and amateur career

On completion of his apprenticeship as a

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

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 the

Rás Tailteann Rás Tailteann (; "Tailteann Race"), often shortened to the Rás, is an annual international cycling stage race, held in Ireland. Traditionally held in May, the race returned after a hiatus in 2022 as 5 day event held in June. By naming the rac ...

in 1979), Roche joined the

Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt or A.C.B.B. is a French sports club based in the suburbs of Paris in the commune of Boulogne-Billancourt. The club offers a variety of sports, but is primarily known for cycling, rugby union, judo, figure s ...

amateur team in Paris to prepare for the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow. Soon after his arrival Roche won the amateur

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the ' Monuments' or classics of th ...

, escaping with

Dirk Demol Dirk Demol (born 4 November 1959) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist and a cycling team manager. He is currently assistant sports director of . As a rider, he specialized in the spring classics, having himself won the 1988 edition ...

and sprinting to victory on the track at Roubaix. Roche was told by his

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 ...

that if he did not win he "would be sent home to Ireland that day". 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 by

Bob Downs Robert Downs (born 24 July 1955) is a former English professional cyclist from Basildon, Essex. Cycling career He won the Sealink International in 1980 and competed at the 1980 Moscow Olympics in the Men's 100 kilometres Team Time Trial. H ...

. However, a knee injury caused by a poorly fitted shoe plate led to a disappointing ride in Moscow, where he finished 45th. However, on return to France, August to October saw Roche win 19 races. That led to a contract with the Peugeot professional cycling team for 1981.

Professional career

Roche scored his first professional victory by beating

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

in the Tour of Corsica. Less than a month later he won

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 overlooki ...

(where he became the first, and still the only, new pro to win Paris–Nice) despite illness following the descent from Mont Ventoux and finished his debut season with victories in the Tour de Corse, Circuit d'Indre-et-Loire and

Étoile des Espoirs The Étoile des Espoirs was an end of the season French cycling stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day even ...

races with a second place behind Hinault in the

Grand Prix des Nations The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial (against the clock) for both professional and amateur racing cyclists. Held annually in Cannes, France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship ...

. In total, his debut yielded 10 victories. In 1982 his best performance was second in the

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classic ...

behind Jan Raas, but his rise continued in 1983 with victories in the

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. It ...

Grand Prix de Wallonie The Grand Prix de Wallonie is an annual road bicycle race held annually in Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, ...

and

Paris–Bourges Paris–Bourges is a French road bicycle race. The race originally started in Paris and ran to the town of Bourges in the Région Centre. However, in recent year with the length of races shortened it has become impossible to link the two cities a ...

. In the 1983

, Roche finished 13th and he finished the 1983 season with a bronze medal in the world cycling championship at Alterheim in Zurich. In 1984, riding for La Redoute following contractual wrangles with

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

(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 his

win, won Nice-Alassio, Subida a Arrate and was second in

. He finished 25th in that year's

. In 1985, Roche won the

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years ...

, the

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 ...

and came second in

and third in Liège–Bastogne–Liège. In the 1985

Roche won stage 18 to the Aubisque and finished on the podium in 3rd position, 4 minutes and 29 seconds behind winner

Chronic knee injury

In 1986 at a six-day event with UK professional Tony Doyle at

Paris-Bercy Gare de Paris Bercy, officially Gare de Paris Bercy Bourgogne - Pays d'Auvergne, is one of the seven mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It handles about 4.3 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF, ma ...

, Roche crashed at speed and damaged his right knee. This destroyed his 1986 season at new team with little to show other than second in a stage of the Giro. Roche finished the 1986

48th, 1h 32m behind Greg LeMond, a Tour that Roche described as like "entering a dark tunnel" of pain. 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 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 for Claudio Chiappucci).

1987 Triple Crown

In 1987, Roche had a tremendous season. In the spring, he won the

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; en, Tour of the Valencian Community or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (''Comunitat Valenciana''), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is often ...

, taking a third victory in the

and fourth place plus a stage win in

. He also finished second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the closest he got to winning a professional 'Monument' Classic. He blamed it on tactical naiveté and "riding like an amateur". In the Giro d'Italia, Roche took three stage wins (including a team win with 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 time trial downhill on the Poggio into San Remo and stage 22, a individual time trial into St. Vincent. Despite his stage wins, the race is remembered for the stage from Lido di Jesolo to Sappada, where Roche, contravening team orders, 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 teammate

Roberto Visentini Roberto Visentini (born 2 June 1957) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist who won the White Jersey in the 1978 Giro, finished in the top 10 of the 1979, 1980, and 1981 Giro's, made the podium in 1983, wore the Maglia Rosa for ...

, who had been previously leading the classification. His behaviour in the stage gained him the

tifosi Tifosi () is a group of supporters of a sports team, especially those that make up a tifo. Etymology It is erroneously claimed that "In Italian, literally means those infected by typhus disease, a reference to someone acting in a fevered man ...

's hatred. It was said the only member of his team that Roche could rely on not to ride against him was his domestique

Eddy Schepers Eddy Schepers (born 12 December 1955) is a Belgian former professional cyclist. He was a professional cyclist from 1978 to 1990 where he rode for many teams including C&A, Carrera and . He started out in the C&A cycling team of Belgian Eddy Mer ...

, although Roche recruited

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

riders and old ACBB teammates

Robert Millar Philippa York (born Robert Millar on 13 September 1958) is a Scottish journalist and former professional road racing cyclist. York, who competed when known as Robert Millar, is one of Britain's most successful cyclists. York won the "King of t ...

and Australian Phil 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 the

. Following

's retirement, Laurent Fignon's choppy form and with Greg 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

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...

stage 10 to

Futuroscope Futuroscope, or Parc du Futuroscope (), formerly known as Planète Futuroscope, is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic futuroscope and audio-visual techniques. It has several 3D cinemas and a few 4D cinemas along with ...

and came second on stage 19. On stage 21, crossing the Galibier and Madeleine and finishing at La Plagne, Roche attacked early, was away for several hours but was caught on the last climb. His nearest rival

Pedro Delgado Pedro Delgado Robledo (; born 15 April 1960), also known as Perico (), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989. Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5&nb ...

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"). The yellow jersey (worn by the leader of 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 cumulat ...

) changed hands several times with Charly Mottet, Roche, Jean François Bernard and Delgado all wearing it before Roche used the final 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 1968

Jan Janssen Johannes Adrianus "Jan" Janssen (; born 19 May 1940) is a Dutch former professional cyclist (1962–1972). He was world champion and winner of the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, the first Dutch rider to win either. He rode the Tour de ...

had beaten

Herman Van Springel Herman Vanspringel (14 August 1943 – 25 August 2022), also spelled Herman Van Springel, was a Belgian road racing cyclist, from Grobbendonk, in the Flemish Campine or Kempen region. He achieved podium finishes in all three of the grand tour ...

by 38 seconds; two years after Roche's victory, Greg LeMond beat Laurent 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. Irish

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

joined Roche on the podium on the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is l ...

. Later that year, with victory at the World road race championship in Villach in Austria, Roche became only the second to win the

Triple Crown of Cycling The Triple Crown of Cycling is a term used in road bicycle racing to denote the achievement of winning three major titles in the same season, usually the Giro d'Italia general classification, the Tour de France general classification and the UCI ...

. Roche arrived with insufficient training although he worked during the 23-lap, undulating terrain for his teammate Sean Kelly and escaped in the race-winning break only while covering for his countryman. With

Moreno Argentin Moreno Argentin (born 17 December 1960) is an Italian former professional cyclist (from 1981 to 1994) and race director. Born in San Donà di Piave (Veneto), he won stages in the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, and the Tour de Suisse. Know ...

in the following group, Kelly did not chase and as the break slowed and jostling for position began for a sprint, Roche attacked from the finish and crossed the line with metres to spare. Victory in the season-long '' Super Prestige Pernod International'' competition was assured. Roche was given the freedom of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in late September 1987. Several days later the 1987 edition of the Nissan Classic began and Roche rode strongly to finish second behind Kelly.

Post-1987 career

At the close of 1987, Roche moved to Fagor MBK, bringing English riders

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 Malcolm Elliot,

1984 Tour de France The 1984 Tour de France was the 71st edition of the Tour de France, run over in 23 stages and a prologue, from 29 June to 22 July. The race was dominated by the Renault team, who won the team classification and ten stages: Renault's French rider ...

King of the Mountains winner

and domestique

. 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 in

(making four second places) and the

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme The Catalan Cycling Week (''Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme'' in Catalan) was a multi-stage road bicycle race held in Catalonia, Spain. Held annually from 1963 until 2005, it was run as a 2.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour in the second half of March ...

. Roche finished the 1989 Giro d'Italia ninth behind Laurent Fignon. During the

1989 Tour de France The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race consisted of 21 stages and a prologue, over . It started on 1 July 1989 in Luxembourg before taking an anti-clockwise route through France ...

, Roche withdrew due to his knee. There were problems with his team in and he changed again. In 1990, racing for Histor–Sigma, he won the Four Days of Dunkirk and 1991 riding for

Roger De Vlaeminck Roger De Vlaeminck (; born 24 August 1947) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as "The most talented and the only real classics rider of his generation". Nicknamed “The Gypsy” because he was bo ...

Tonton Tapis–GB Tonton Tapis–GB was a Belgian professional cycling team that existed in 1991. The team participated in the 1991 Tour de France The 1991 Tour de France was the 78th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 6 to 28 July. The total race ...

brought victories in the

and Critérium International. In the

1991 Tour de France The 1991 Tour de France was the 78th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 6 to 28 July. The total race distance was 22 stages over . The race was won by Miguel Indurain, whose Banesto team also won the team classification. The points ...

, Roche missed the start for his team's Team time trial and was forced to withdraw due to controversially missing the time cut. In the

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

, he was ninth in the 1989 Giro, and won a stage of the

1992 Tour de France The 1992 Tour de France was the 79th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 26 July. The total race distance was 21 stages and a prologue over . In honor of the Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union, the Tour visited ...

in appalling conditions into La Bourboule (again racing for but now in support of Claudio Chiappucci) and en route to a final ninth place. Riding the last edition of the Nissan Classic Tour of Ireland, Roche was in many breaks but finished fifth. A year later, he was again ninth in the 1993 Giro d'Italia and 13th in the

1993 Tour de France The 1993 Tour de France was the 80th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 3 to 25 July. It consisted of 20 stages, over a distance of . The winner of the previous two years, Miguel Induráin, successfully defended his title. The poin ...

. Roche retired at the end of an anonymous 1993 which yielded a single win, in the post-

criterium at Chateau Chinon.

Doping

In May 1990,

Paul Kimmage Paul Kimmage (born 7 May 1962 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish sports journalist and former amateur and professional road bicycle racer, who was road race champion of Ireland in 1981, and competed in the 1984 Olympic Games. He wrote for ''The ...

– a former professional and teammate of Roche at

Fagor Fagor Electrodoméstico was a large domestic and commercial appliance manufacturer based in the Basque Country, Spain and run by the Mondragon Corporation. Fagor was Spain's largest consumer appliance company and the fifth largest electrical ap ...

, as well as a fellow Dubliner – published an account of life in the peloton. His book '' Rough Ride'' exposed drug use apparently endemic in the peloton but spoke in fawning terms about Roche. Despite this, publication resulted in a threat of litigation from Roche. It was reported in the Rome newspaper, ''

La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnol ...

'', in January 2000 that Francesco Conconi, a professor at the

University of Ferrara The University of Ferrara ( it, Università degli Studi di Ferrara) is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 5 ...

involved with administering erythropoietin (EPO) to riders on the Carrera team with which Roche had some of his best years, had provided riders including Roche with EPO. Roche denied the allegations. This was further reported in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' several days later, Roche again denying EPO. In March 2000 the Italian judge Franca Oliva published a report detailing the investigation into sports doctors including Conconi. This official judicial investigation unequivocally found that Roche was administered EPO in 1993, his last year in the peloton. Files from part of the investigation allegedly detail a number of aliases for Roche including Rocchi, Rossi, Rocca, Roncati, Righi and Rossini. 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.

Personal life

Roche lives in Antibes on the Côte d'Azur. Roche remained involved in the sport by founding cycling camps in Majorca, by taking part in race organisations and working as a commentator on cycling events for

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...

. He has four children with his former wife Lydia; the couple divorced in 2004. One son,

Nicolas Roche Nicolas Roche (; born 3 July 1984) is an Irish former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He has twice been national champion and has twice finished in the top ten of the Vuelta a España, and won stages in 2013 an ...

, was a professional until his retirement in 2021, and was the 2009 and 2016 Irish National Road Race Champion. Stephen's brother Lawrence Roche was also a professional cyclist who completed his only Tour de France in 1991. They were teammates on the

team. Roche's nephew

Dan Martin Daniel Martin may refer to: People * Dan Martin (actor) (born 1951), American actor *Dan Martin (drama educator) (born 1953), American academic *Dan Martin (cyclist) (born 1986), Irish road bicycle racer *Dan Martin (footballer) (born 1986), Britis ...

was also a professional cyclist and was the 2008 Irish National Road Race Champion. Roche completed the 2008 New York Marathon in a time of 4:21:09. 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 in Majorca. The court determined he had funded his lifestyle with the company's assets instead of paying back creditors.

Roche featured in a well-known Irish television advert for Galtee cheese in 1987, shortly after winning the

Career achievements

Major results

Source: ;1977 : 1st MaillotIrlanda

Road race, National Junior Road Championships ;1979 : 1st MaillotIrlanda

Irish National Elite Cyclo-Cross Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Rás Tailteann ::1st Stages 2 & 9a ;1980 : 1st

Paris–Roubaix Espoirs Paris–Roubaix Espoirs is a one-day road cycling race held annually in France. In 2005 the race was integrated into the UCI Europe Tour as a category 1.2U race. Held since 1967, it is the under-23 version of the Monument classic Paris–Roubaix ...

: 2nd Road race, National Amateur Road Championships : 2nd Grand Prix des Nations Amateurs ;1981 : 1st Jersey white

Overall Paris–Nice ::1st Stage 7b ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Prologue & Stage 4b ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour d'Indre-et-Loire The Tour d'Indre-et-Loire was a multi-day road bicycle race held annually from 1970 to 1982 in the department of Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it ha ...

::1st Stage 3 : 2nd

: 2nd Grand Prix de Monaco : 3rd

Critérium des As The ''Critérium des As'' (''Race of the Aces'') was a cycle race that was generally held at the end of the season, with entry by invitation only, for the leading riders of the season. Competitors rode behind pacers on tandems or motorcycles. It w ...

: 3rd

Grand Prix de Cannes The Grand Prix de Cannes was a single-day road cycling held annually in Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Canne ...

: 4th Overall

: 4th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk : 5th 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 ...

: 6th Overall

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independen ...

::1st Stage 7 ( ITT) ;1982 : 2nd

: 3rd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk : 3rd

Trofeo Baracchi The Trofeo Baracchi was a major Italian cycling race that ran for 50 years. It was created by Mino Baracchi, in memory of his father Angelo who was a great cycle racing fan. Originally (from 1941) an amateur individual time trial, from 1944 it w ...

(with

Jacques Bossis Jacques Bossis (born 22 December 1952) is a French former professional road bicycle racer. As an amateur he won Bordeaux-Saintes in 1973. He was professional from 1976 to 1985 and won 7 victories. He wore the yellow jersey as leader of the gene ...

) : 4th Overall Tour Midi-Pyrénées : 5th Overall

: 6th Overall Paris–Nice : 9th

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five '' Monuments'' of the European professional ...

: 9th

Tour du Haut Var The Tour du Haut Var ( en, Tour of the Haut Var) is an early-season two-day road bicycle race in the Var department region in the south of France. Until 2008 it was run as a one-day race, part of the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, the race transformed ...

;1983 : 1st Jersey green

Overall

: 1st

Overall

: 1st

: 2nd

: 3rd

Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

: 3rd Overall Tour Midi-Pyrénées : 3rd GP Ouest–France : 4th Overall

: 5th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre : 5th Overall

: 5th

: 7th

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

: 7th Paris–Tours ;1984 : 1st Jersey green

Overall

: 1st Subida a Arrate : 1st

Nice–Alassio Nice–Alassio was a professional one-day road cycling race Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, ...

: 2nd Overall Paris–Nice ::1st Stage 6 : 2nd Overall

: 2nd Overall

Tour de l'Oise The Tour de Picardie was a professional stage race, multi-stage road bicycle racing, cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The ...

: 3rd Overall

: 3rd

: 5th

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia ( en, Tour of Lombardy), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five ' Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in ...

: 6th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Jersey green

Points classification : 6th

Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne is an annual single-day road cycling race in Belgium. It is held one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on the last Sunday of February or the first of March, and completes the opening weekend of the Belgian cycling season ...

: 7th

;1985 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 3 ( ITT) : 1st Jersey orange

Overall Tour Midi-Pyrénées ::1st Stage 1a : Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Prologue & Stage 9 ( ITT) : 2nd Overall Paris–Nice ::1st Stage 7b ( ITT) : 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 18a : 3rd Overall

: 3rd

: 4th

: 5th

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 ...

: 7th Road race,

: 7th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre : 10th Overall

Tour of Ireland The Tour of Ireland (Irish: Turas na hÉireann, known from 1985 to 1992 as the Nissan Classic) was a bicycle stage race held in August, which ran for 35 editions over a 56-year period. Irish rider Seán Kelly recorded the most wins, four. Th ...

::1st Stages 3b & 4a ;1986 : 7th

(with

) ;1987 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

: 1st

Overall

::1st Stages 2 ( TTT) & 10 ( ITT) ::Held Jersey green

after Stages 22 & 24 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Combination classification ::1st Stages 1b ( ITT), 3 ( TTT) & 22 ( ITT) ::Held Jersey violet

after Stages 4–6 : 1st Jersey green

Overall

::1st Stages 5a & 5b ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 4 ( ITT) : 1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod International : 2nd Overall

: 2nd Overall

: 2nd

: 4th Overall Paris–Nice ::1st Stages 1 ( TTT) & 7b ( ITT) : 4th

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 ...

: 4th

Rund um den Henninger-Turm Rund is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cathleen Rund (born 1977), German swimmer * Hanno Rund (1925–1993), German mathematician * Thorsten Rund Thorsten Rund (born 25 February 1976 in Lübben) is a German former profes ...

: 5th Trofeo Pantalica ;1988 : 6th Overall

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

: 8th Overall

;1989 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'', es, Vuelta al País Vasco, links=no, eu, Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races ...

::1st Stage 5b ( ITT) : 2nd Overall Paris–Nice ::1st Stage 7b ( ITT) : 3rd Overall

: 3rd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk ::1st Stage 3a ( ITT) : 9th Overall Giro d'Italia ;1990 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall Four Days of Dunkirk : 2nd Overall Paris–Nice : 5th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre : 6th Overall

: 6th Overall

: 6th

: 7th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ;1991 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 1st

Overall

: 4th Overall Paris–Nice : 7th Overall

: 7th

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and c ...

: 8th

: 9th

Subida a Urkiola Subida a Urkiola is a one-day cycling race in Durango, Biscay of the Basque Country. The route starts in Durango and ends at the Sanctuary of Urkiola. The first edition began in 1931 and is organized by the Sociedad Ciclista Bilbaina, but has not ...

;1992 : 2nd

Gran Piemonte The Giro del Piemonte, since 2009 known also as Gran Piemonte, is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Apennine Mountains, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI ...

: 5th Overall

: 6th Overall

: 7th Overall

: 8th Overall

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

: 9th Overall

::1st Stage 16 ;1993 : 9th Overall Giro d'Italia : 9th

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 ...

General classification results timeline

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Stephen RocheStephen Roche's Cycling Camp in MajorcaStephen Roche's Charity Cycling Race
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roche, Stephen Irish male cyclists Tour de France winners Irish Tour de France stage winners Giro d'Italia winners Irish Giro d'Italia stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Rás Tailteann winners Olympic cyclists of Ireland Cyclists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Doping cases in cycling Sportspeople from County Dublin 1959 births Living people Cycling announcers Alumni of Dublin Institute of Technology Irish expatriates in France RTÉ Sports Person of the Year winners People from Dundrum, Dublin Super Prestige Pernod winners

Early life and amateur career

Professional career

Chronic knee injury

1987 Triple Crown

Post-1987 career

Doping

Personal life

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Career achievements

Major results

General classification results timeline

References

Further reading

External links