{"id":6896,"date":"2024-06-25T17:53:50","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T15:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=6896"},"modified":"2024-06-25T17:53:50","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T15:53:50","slug":"love-letter-to-the-tour-de-france-stephen-roche-relives-the-glory-and-the-heartbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2024\/06\/25\/love-letter-to-the-tour-de-france-stephen-roche-relives-the-glory-and-the-heartbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Letter to the Tour de France: Stephen Roche Relives the Glory and the Heartbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s impossible to love road cycling and its history without stumbling upon the decorated name of Stephen Roche. Matt Stephens comes face to face with the Irish legend. Catching up with Stephen in his home in Antibes, France, they relived the intense emotional relationship the former pro still has with the Tour.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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We can think of the Tour de France,<\/a> due to its history, importance and overall mythical status, as the beating heart of road cycling. And that\u2019s exactly what we are focusing on this year with our \u201cWhat\u2019s Your Tour de\u2026?\u201d initiative for fans and cycling enthusiasts. And if anyone has had the honour of listening to this particular heartbeat up close, it\u2019s Stephen Roche. As Matt, whose life has been intertwined with cycling for decades, himself admitted, Stephen was one of the people who inspired him to pursue a career in bike riding.<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/a>
It\u2019s impossible to love road cycling and its history without stumbling upon the decorated name of Stephen Roche. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A former professional road-racing cyclist with no need for a lengthy introduction, Roche was active between 1977 and 1993 and left an indelible mark on the sport. He started cycling around the age of 13 and first became aware of the Tour when another great Irish rider, Sean Kelly, started making headlines.<\/p>\n

Seeing him leading out Eddie Merckx, Stephen \u201cbecame aware that there\u2019s cycling outside Ireland\u201d and that he could be a part of it too. His first actual interaction with the Tour, though, was in 1983, when literally standing on the starting line. Stephen still remembers the intensity and importance of the race as a newbie: \u201cBefore, I was riding over climbs, now I was riding over Cols with the best of them.\u201d<\/p>\n