Chronic knee injury

In 1986 at a six-day event with UK professional Tony Doyle at Paris-Bercy, Roche crashed at speed and damaged his right knee. This destroyed his 1986 season at new team Carrera–Inoxpran with little to show other than second in a stage of the Giro. Roche finished the 1986 Tour de France 48th, 1h 32m behind Greg LeMond, a Tour that Roche described as like "entering a dark tunnel" of pain.^[1]

The injury and then associated back problems recurred throughout his career (for example in the 1989 Tour Roche abandoned after banging the problem knee on his handlebars) and a series of operations appeared to only address direct or consequential symptoms of the core injury. Later non-surgical intervention under Dr.Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt in Munich made some difference but the injury required constant care.

By the end of his career Roche was unable to compete at his best because of back problem which led to a loss of power in the left leg. In retirement he described riding the 1993 Tour de France "just for fun". He finished 13th, riding for Claudio Chiappucci).

1987 Triple Crown

Roche riding in the final time trial at the 1987 Tour de France

In 1987, Roche had a tremendous season. In the spring, he won the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, taking a third victory in the Tour de Romandie and fourth place plus a stage win in Paris–Nice. He also finished second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the closest he got to winning a professional 'Monument' Classic. He blamed it on tactical naiveté and "riding like an amateur".

In the Giro d'Italia, Roche took three stage wins (including a team win with Carrera Jeans–Vagabond in the team time trial) en route to overall victory and became the first Giro victor from outside mainland Europe. Roche's stage wins that year in the Giro were stage 1b, the 8 km (5.0 mi) time trial downhill on the Poggio into San Remo and stage 22, a 32 km (20 mi) individual time trial into St. Vincent. Despite his stage wins, the race is remembered for the stage from Lido di Jesolo to Sappada, where Roche, contravening team orders,^[3] broke away alone early and despite being caught late in the race, had the strength to go with the counterattack and take the pink jersey from his teammate Roberto Visentini, who had been previously leading the classification. His behaviour in the stage gained him the tifosi's hatred.^[4] It was said the only member of his team that Roche could rely on not to ride against him was his domestique Eddy Schepers, although Roche recruited Panasonic riders and old ACBB teammates Robert Millar and Australian Phil Anderson to protect him with Schepers on the Marmolada climb (a day known as the "Marmolada Massacre").

Roche finished the Giro exhausted but favourite for the Tour de France. Following Bernard Hinault's retirement, Laurent Fignon's choppy form and with Greg LeMond injured following an accidental shooting while hunting, the 1987 Tour was open. It was also one of the most mountainous since the war, with 25 stages. Roche won the 87.5 km (54.4 mi) individual time trial stage 10 to Futuroscope and came second on stage 19.

On stage 21, crossing the Galibier and Madeleine and finishing at La Plagne, Roche attacked early, was away for several hours but was caught on the last climb. His nearest rival Pedro Delgado then attacked. Despite being almost one-and-a-half minutes in arrears midway up the last climb, Roche pulled the deficit back to 4 seconds. Roche collapsed and lost consciousness and was given oxygen. When asked when revived if he was okay, he replied "Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite" ("yes, but I am not ready for a woman straight away").^[4]

The yellow jersey (worn by the leader of the general classification) changed hands several times with Charly Mottet, Roche, Jean François Bernard and Delgado all wearing it before Roche used the final 35 km (22 mi) time trial to overturn a half-minute gap and win the Tour by 40 seconds, which was at the time the second-narrowest margin (in 1968 Jan Janssen had beaten Herman Van Springel by 38 seconds; two years after Roche's victory, Greg LeMond beat Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds). Roche became only the fifth cyclist in history to win the Tour and the Giro in the same year. He was also the only Irishman to win the Tour de France. Irish Taoiseach Charles Haughey joined Roche on the podium on the Champs-Élysées.

Later that year, with victory at the World road race championship in Villach in Austria, Roche became only the second to win the Triple Crown of Cycling. Roche arrived with insufficient training although he worked during the 23-lap, 278 km (173 mi) undulating terrain for his teammate Sean Kelly and escaped in the race-winning break only while covering for his countryman. With Moreno Argentin in the following group, Kelly did not chase and as the break slowed and jostling for position began for a sprint, Roche attacked 500 m (1,600 ft) from the finish and crossed the line with metres to spare.^[4]

Victory in the season-long Super Prestige Pernod International competition was assured.^[1]

Roche was given the freedom of Dublin in late September 1987. Several days later the 1987 edition of the Nissan Classic began and Roche rode strongly to finish second behind Kelly.^[5]

Post-1987 career

Roche riding an individual time trial at the 1993 Tour de France

At the close of 1987, Roche moved to Fagor MBK, bringing English riders Sean Yates and Malcolm Elliot, 1984 Tour de France King of the Mountains winner Robert Millar and domestique Eddy Schepers. The team was criticised for containing too many English speakers.

The 1988 season began badly with a recurrence of the knee injury and Roche began a gradual decline. In 1989 he again took second in Paris–Nice (making four second places) and the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme. Roche finished the 1989 Giro d'Italia ninth behind Laurent Fignon. During the 1989 Tour de France, Roche withdrew due to his knee.

There were problems with his team in and he changed again. In 1990, racing for Histor–Sigma, he won the Four Days of Dunkirk and 1991 riding for Roger De Vlaeminck's Tonton Tapis–GB brought victories in the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme and Critérium International. In the 1991 Tour de France, Roche missed the start for his team's Team time trial and was forced to withdraw due to controversially missing the time cut.^[6]

In the Grand Tours, he was ninth in the 1989 Giro, and won a stage of the 1992 Tour de France in appalling conditions into La Bourboule (again racing for Carrera Jeans–Vagabond but now in support of Claudio Chiappucci) and en route to a final ninth place. Riding the last edition of the Nissan Classic Tour of Ireland, Roche was in many breaks but finished fifth.^[7] A year later, he was again ninth in the 1993 Giro d'Italia and 13th in the 1993 Tour de France.^[8]

Roche retired at the end of an anonymous 1993 which yielded a single win, in the post-Tour de France criterium at Chateau Chinon.

Major results

General classification results timeline

Grand Tour general classification results
Grand Tour	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993
Vuelta a España	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	14	—
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	—	—	DNF	1	—	9	—	—	—	9
Tour de France	—	—	13	25	3	48	1	—	DNF	44	DNF	9	13
Major stage race general classification results
Race	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993
Paris–Nice	1	6	—	2	2	—	4	—	2	2	4	—	—
Tirreno–Adriatico	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	8	21
Tour of the Basque Country	—	—	—	—	—	—	12	—	1	6	7	6	22
Tour de Romandie	—	—	1	1	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	13
Critérium du Dauphiné	26	—	—	6	—	—	—	—	—	7	—	—	—
Tour de Suisse	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	DNF	—
Volta a Catalunya	Did not contest during his career

Legend

—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish