Stephen Roche Photo Gallery
http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/photo-galleries/rider-gallery/roche-stephen.html Stephen Roche (born November 28, 1959) was one of the modern age's most talented racers. One can only guess at what he could have done with a reliable and pain-free right knee. His 1987 season was stuff of legend with victories in the Giro d'Italia, Tour of Romandie, Tour de France and World Championships. The only other rider to win the "Triple Crown" (Giro, Tour, Worlds) is Eddy Merckx . Roche's first year as professional (1981) showed he was a complete rider with victories in Paris-Nice (beating the very formidable Adrie Van der Poel by 79 seconds) and the Grand Prix des Nations, then the unofficial world time trial championship. His upward march was stopped dead in its tracks when he crashed in the 1986 Paris Six-Day. The damage to his right knee would haunt him the remainder of his career. By early 1987 surgery had stabilized the knee enough to allow him to resume racin...