Bob Roll
Encyclopedia
7-Eleven Cycling Team
The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist...
until 1990 and competed for the Motorola Cycling Team in 1991. In 1992 Roll moved to Greg LeMond
Greg LeMond
Gregory James LeMond is a former professional road bicycle racer from the United States and a three-time winner of the Tour de France. He was born in Lakewood, California and raised in Reno, Nevada....
’s Z team and added mountain biking to his racing accomplishments. He continued racing mountain bikes through 1998.
He has written Bobke: A Ride on the Wild Side of Cycling, Bobke II, and two Tour de France Companion volumes. ("Bobke" is Southern Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
for "Bobby".) He has also had many columns published in VeloNews.
In 1998, Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
was recovering from cancer and had dropped out of the Paris–Nice race. Armstrong's coach, Chris Carmichael, asked Roll to go to Boone, North Carolina, to ride with Armstrong for a few days. Armstrong was discouraged by Europe and on the verge of retiring. Carmichael wanted him to do one more training session, with Roll. According to Roll, "Lance had probably never met a bike racer like me...a person who could still find some happiness in such misery. We had eight hours a day for eight days of riding in the pouring rain - rain in Biblical proportions! I think Lance would’ve turned things around even without that time in the Appalachia[n]s, but it was a pivotal time." Armstrong went on to fourth in the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
, and within a year and a half won his first Tour de France. (Roll's tale of the ride is in Bobke II; Armstrong's is in It's Not About the Bike.)
Roll is a cycling commentator for the Versus
Versus (TV channel)
Versus is a sports-oriented cable television channel in the United States. It was previously known as Outdoor Life Network and was launched on July 1, 1995, focusing on fishing, hunting, and other outdoor sports...
cable network's coverage of the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
.
Roll has appeared in Trek
Trek Bicycle Corporation
Trek Bicycle Corporation is a major bicycle and cycling product manufacturer and distributor under brand names Trek, Gary Fisher, Bontrager, Klein and until recently, LeMond Racing Cycles...
commercials as himself with "Tour Mania".
Cycling achievements
- 3-time Tour de FranceTour de FranceThe Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
racer - 63rd (1986), DNF due to a crash (1987), 132nd (1990). In addition, Roll was supposed to start the 1988 Tour de France but dropped out the day before the race began due to illness. - 3-time Giro d'ItaliaGiro d'ItaliaThe Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
racer, including 1988 when he was a domestiqueCycling domestiqueA domestique is a road bicycle racer who works for the benefit of his team and leader. The French domestique translates as "servant". In Italy and Spain, the term gregario is used, while in Belgium and the Netherlands the term knecht or helper are used...
for winner Andrew HampstenAndrew HampstenAndrew Hampsten is an American former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1988 Giro d'Italia and the Alpe d'Huez stage of the 1992 Tour de France.-Career highlights:...
. During the stage through the snow-covered Gavia PassGavia PassGavia Pass is a high mountain pass in the Italian Alps. It is the tenth highest paved road in the Alps.The pass lies in the Lombardy region and divides the province of Sondrio to the north and the province of Brescia to the south...
, Hampsten took 2nd and the leader's Maglia rosaMaglia rosaThe pink jersey is awarded to the leader of the General Classification at the Giro d'Italia. The leader of the GC is the rider who has the fastest time when all the stage results are added together, taking into account time bonuses for high finishes and intermediate sprints...
, and Roll had to ride up the hill to deliver Hampsten's warm clothes. He finished 61st. He finished 78th in 1985 and 114th in 1989. - 7-time Paris–Roubaix racer - 55th (1986), 48th (1987) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/cla_paris_roubaix/roubaix1987.php, 25th (1988) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/cla_paris_roubaix/roubaix1988.php, 37th (1989) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/cla_paris_roubaix/roubaix1989.php, 61st (1990) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/cla_paris_roubaix/roubaix1990.php, and two DNFs
- 2-time Liège–Bastogne–Liège racer - 17th (1987) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/cla_liege_bastogne/liege1987.php, and 54th (1990) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/cla_liege_bastogne/liege1990.php
- 3-time Tour de SuisseTour de SuisseThe Tour de Suisse is a UCI World Tour stage race held annually in June. The race debuted in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. With the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is a proving ground for the Tour de France, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
racer - 56th (1987) - as a domestique for overall winner Andrew Hampsten http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tds/tds1987.php, 48th (1990) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_tds/tds1990.php - 2-time Dauphiné LibéréDauphiné LibéréThe Critérium du Dauphiné is an annual cycling road race, run over eight stages in the Dauphiné region in France during the first half of June. The race was inaugurated by a local newspaper, the Dauphiné Libéré, which gave its name to the event...
racer - 1990 http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_dauphine/dauphine1990.php, 97th (1991) - where in an odd twist he wore the number ending in 1 signifying he was Motorola's "team leader" for the event http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_dauphine/dauphine1991.php
- 2-time Amstel Gold RaceAmstel Gold RaceThe Amstel Gold Race is a road bicycle race held in the southern part of the province of Limburg, Netherlands. Since 1989 it has been among the races included in season long rankings tables, as part of the UCI Road World Cup , the UCI ProTour , UCI World Ranking and from 2011 the UCI World Tour...
participant - 64th (1988) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/cla_amstel/amstel1988.php, 120th (1991) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/cla_amstel/amstel1991.php - Tour of Luxembourg racer - 40th (1987) http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_luxembourg/luxembourg1987.php
- Won stage 3 of the 1988 Tour de RomandieTour de RomandieThe Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
http://www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net/eta_romandie/romandie1988.php - Won stage 11 (Vail criterium) of the 1985 Coors ClassicCoors ClassicThe Coors International Bicycle Classic was a stage race sponsored by the Coors Brewing Company. Coors was the race's second sponsor, the first, Celestial Seasonings, named the race after its premium tea Red Zinger, which began in 1975...
- Won the 1997 & 1998 San Francisco Hill Climb
- Raced in eight World Championships (in both road racingWorld Cycling ChampionshipThe UCI Road World Championships, often referred to as the World Cycling Championships, is the annual world championship for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale . The UCI Road World Championships include championships for elite men's road race and individual time trial...
and mountain bikingMountain Bike World ChampionshipsThe UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships are the world championship events for mountain bike racing events in cross country, downhill, four-cross and trials riding events. It is organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale , and winners are presented with a gold medal and are entitled...
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