Stephen Roche

Stephen Roche (born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former cyclist whose 13-year career peaked in 1987, when he won the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the world road race championship in the same season. That Triple Crown had been achieved before only by Eddy Merckx and has since been matched only by Tadej Pogačar. His rise coincided with that of fellow Irishman Sean Kelly; admired for his pedalling style, he struggled with knee injuries and never contended in a Grand Tour again after 1987, finishing with 58 professional wins. After an apprenticeship as a machinist at a Dublin dairy and an amateur career with the Orwell Wheelers that brought the Irish junior title in 1977 and the Rás Tailteann in 1979, he joined the ACBB club in Paris, where he won the amateur Paris-Roubaix.