Sports Poets Society

https://journal.rouleur.cc/ruthless-stephen-roche-on-his-path-from-ras-winner-to-world-champion/ Off the bike , Stephen Roche is Mr Nice Guy ; on it, he was a cold-blooded killer. Ireland’s Triple Crown king on 1987, tussles with team-mates and post-cycling struggles Words: Andy McGrath Rouleur - Posted on 04.12.19 An Irishman was walking to the bank in his adopted home of Nice to finalise a loan to several business partners. His investment in a cake shop was about to be officialised; the menus had even been designed. Sixteen French policemen jumped him. He was handcuffed and taken to the local police station. Stephen Roche, Tour de France champion, was under arrest . The kicker was that it played out similarly to his apprehension, almost 20 years earlier, for a prank on French TV show, Surprise sur Prise. But there were no hidden cameras this time. Roche didn’t know that his prospective partners were criminals, illegally leeching thousands of Euros from a...

https://www.bikeraceinfo.com/riderhistories/stephan-roche-1987.html By Owen Mulholland Editor's note:  Owen Mulholland was the first American journalist accredited to the Tour de France.  He covered the Tour as Americans made the transition from the objects of taunts by the superior European racers to world-beaters who have won ten Tours de France. It was a remarkable, neck-snapping change and Owen's writing conveys the excitement all Americans felt when it was happening.  Here's his story of the 1987 Tour de France.  Here are the 1987 Tour results, stage by stage . For the second consecutive year an English speaker has won the greatest race in the world , The Tour de France. Irishman Stephen Roche has a lot in common with his predecessor, American Greg LeMond. Both Greg and Stephen are 27 , both had illustrious amateur careers followed by a long struggle up the professional ladder, both are open and warm, almost to a fault, and both have familie...