IRELAND: Stephen Roche

Ireland - Stephen Roche

While one of the very few cyclists, in fact only the second of two, to have won a triple crown in cycling (the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and World Road Race Championship) in one year, a cloud of suspicion sits over Stephen Roche's head. He faces allegations of doping by numerous bodies and individuals due to a reported connection with Doctor Conconi, known for conducting tests with EPO. Especially damning to Roche's reputation has been the fact that two very prominent Irish journalists, Paul Kimmage and David Walsh, have explicitly stated that they believe Roche was guilty of doping. While Roche remains the Irish "native son" of cycling, an air of uncertainty certainly looms over that title.

Credit: Cyclismas.com
Similar to Steve Bauer in Canada around the same time, Tour de France exposure was nowhere near as large as it is today in the late 1980s and Stephen Roche's heyday. Moreover, like Bauer, he spent most of his seasons in France, and was thus not as accessible to the Irish public through either Tour exposure nor an ability to be a public figure. However, unlike Bauer, Roche is and has been very vocal, candid, and exuberant throughout his career(s) in cycling. Roche is a rogue voice, for example, in his desire to eliminate team car assistance of riders, the elimination of radios, and the insistence that riders refrain from racing with their jerseys unzipped. Back when he was still riding, he often made very bold and shocking comments such as his assertion that a downhill time trial, in a year (1987) where 3 riders had been killed, that "three riders have been killed this year, it seems like they are looking for a fourth."  His individuality is another reason which creates a certain draw to him-- he was always out of the ordinary for a rider, not just one of many in the peloton. In 1987, when he won the Triple Crown of cycling, the only rider in history aside from cycling great Eddy Merckx, he actually overtook his own teammate, Roberto Visentini to do so. Not only that, but his teammate was an Italian on home soil. Roche, moreover, faced Italians spitting, punching, and throwing things at him as a result of his "betrayal" of teammate Visentini. Thus, Roche practically hand-fed stories and dramatic images to the Irish media and his home crowds, which likely helped to grow his status as sporting hero back in Ireland.

Roche and Visentini in 1987: Teammates AND Rivals (Credit: Cyclsport.org)
Another likely reason for Roche's popularity back home, and related to his outlandish personality, was his penchant for drama. The Sappada affair with Visentini is but one example, however the most iconic image of Stephen Roche's career was following his epic Stage 21 comeback against Pedro Delgado. Knowing that he needed to shrink Delgado's lead of the General Classification going into the flatter final days of the Tour where Roche could really excel, Roche's final climb at La Plagne stage ended up taking so much effort that he was hospitalized following the stage. However he finished only 14 seconds behind Delgado and ended up winning the Tour de France. Many considered this the "turning point" so to speak, and one which fully cemented his heroic status to the people of Ireland. Indeed, for many, this performance was transformative to their lives:


Roche's candid explanation of his epic performance:


And Roche, after collapsing following that performance, being medically attended to:


After Roche's Tour win, he was a huge celebrity in Ireland-- revered by the masses. Indeed, over 500,000 people came out to celebrate his victory upon his return home to Ireland. To put such a number in perspective for a North American audience, the celebratory parade of the Los Angeles Kings' National Hockey League club and their first ever Stanley Cup victory only garnered half that number, at 250,000 people (in a city much larger than Dublin).

Moreover, at this point, Ireland and the United Kingdom were engaged in severe fighting over Irish independence. Roche himself has claimed that the ability for his win to have brought a temporary peace to the island nation, however briefly, was his proudest achievement. Even today, one can still see the nationalistic fervour that Roche's win symbolized to the Irish people. This was one major item that Ireland could claim ahead of the United Kingdom:


Yet, despite Stephen Roche's incredible successes, his dramatic victories, and his candid personality, Irish cycling did not experience a huge boom, nor did the sport's professional popularity to any great heights, it would seem. Rather, the late 1980s appear to have been the 'golden era' of Irish cycling. And there are few apparent reasons as to why this is the case.

Several potentialities do exist:

A) Fellow Irish hero, Sean Kelly's fall from grace due to doping (he and Roche were the John Lennon and Paul McCartney of Irish cycling) may have severely stunted interest in the sport. Not only that, the assertions of two of Ireland's most prominent journalists, David Walsh and Paul Kimmage, that Roche was a doper. What must be mentioned, however, is that no definitive proof has been provided, and Roche's guilt, in the minds of Walsh and Kimmage, is determined more by association to shady characters in the doping game. A medical review of the information is much less damning, however (and this television program from 2000 gives a great overview of Walsh's arguments, Roche's arguments, and a slightly nationalism-infused medical opinion):


B) Roche's successes were not sufficiently diffuse, and rather, concentrated over one year primarily. Thor Hushovd and Stuart O'Grady, for example, have both had a significant impact on their sports, and a constant which they both share is an impressive staying power and long, illustrious careers. While Roche certainly had a good career, 1987 truly defined it for him. Moreover, combined with the proof that Sean Kelly was doping, the sport's interest may have simply waned very quickly.

C) Related to the last point, Roche's comparatively short stint at the top of the cycling world did not allow for a significant enough incubation time for other riders to rise out of the Irish ranks. Once again, only after several years of O'Grady and Hushovd at or near the top of cycling did Australian and Norwegian riders begin to start developing in higher numbers at a world class level.

However, in truth, these answers were only speculation. As such, contact was made with Niall Doggett, Director of the Irish Cycling Academy, to clarify these discrepancies:

Niall Doggett (Credit: Facebook)




















Mr. Doggett was posed with the following question:
"What impact, if any, did Roche's 1987 TDF victory have on cycling in Ireland and how?"
Mr. Doggett responded with the following answers:


Interestingly, Mr. Doggett confirms that "cycling was and still is a 'niche' sport in Ireland." And while he gives us greater background into the culture of cycling and the importance of Roche to Ireland at the time, we are still left to ponder why cycling did not become more popular in Ireland, nor produce more riders. Mr. Doggett continues:


Mr. Doggett thus largely confirms the extrapolative research into this issue in Ireland. Indeed, doping did not tarnish the sport immediately, and the public remained interested, but the fact that doping continued to undermine the credibility of the sport coupled with the fact that Ireland produced no more Roche or Kelly-level cyclists has let the sport's interest dwindle since Roche's historic summer of 1987. 

Roche does continue to be an important voice in the world of cycling, still holds a lot of resonance in Ireland due to his hero status, and has just recently released a popular autobiography. Moreover, his impact on cycling in Ireland is immediately seen when Ireland's top two riders are his son, Nicolas Roche, and his nephew, Dan Martin, who just won his 'maiden' Tour de France stage this summer (of 2013). However, as speculated, one can reasonably assume that Roche's comparatively short period of success at the top of the cycling world, combined with a doping scandal after doping scandal have served to undermine the incredible profile that Roche helped build for cycling in Ireland in 1987.

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