Sports Poets Society

How Roche and Millar worked at securing first and second places Procycling, June 2012 I wasn’t supposed to be at the ’87 Giro d’Italia at all but Panasonic team boss Peter Post surprised me barely ten days before the start. I was first reserve, apparently, but I don’t remember him saying who I replaced or why. It was probably Post’s idea of punishment for me arguing about whether I had to eat my crème caramel at the recent GP Zurich when he’d said I needed to. Or possibly for letting former Panasonic rider Beat Breu win a mountain stage at the Tour de Romandie. Post hadn’t talked to me for three days after thatscandal. So, reluctantly, I found myself at the start of the Giro to support Phil Anderson on the climbs. Post made it quite clear who was leading the team and who was there to help. I didn’t have any problems with that as it wasn’t a race I had planned for. Skimming through the road book the night before the first stage was a bit of a shock as it looked really h...

The only rider besides Eddy Merckx to win the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and World Championships in the same season, Ireland’s Stephen Roche had an easy smile and smooth pedalling style that hid an iron will Writer: Peter Cossins Procycling, June 2012 For fans of a certain age, Stephen Roche embodies the first golden age of English-speaking readers. Together with the likes of compatriot Sean Kelly, Britain’s Robert Millar, Australia’s Phil Anderson and the USA’s Greg LeMond, Roche helped to change the complexion of the sport both inside their native countries and within the wider cycling world. All of these riders stand out in their own particular way, Roche primarily making his mark thanks to an astonishing string of performances during the 1987 season. He started it right off the competitive radar as the result of a heavy fall onto his right knee during the Paris Six-Day in November 1985. During the subsequent season, he made so little impact with his new Carrera tea...