Bob Roll at the 2003 Tour of Hope in Washington, DC.

Bob Roll (born July 7, 1960, in Oakland, California) is a former American professional cyclist, author, and television sports commentator. He was a member of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team until 1990 and competed for the Motorola Cycling Team in 1991. In 1992 Roll moved to Greg LeMond’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 for "Bobby".) He has also had many columns published in VeloNews.

In 1998, Lance Armstrong 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.^[1] 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, and within a year and a half won his first Tour de France. (Roll's tale of the ride is in "Bobke II" [1]; Armstrong's is in "It's Not About the Bike."^[2])

Roll is a cycling commentator for the Versus cable network's coverage of the Tour de France.

Roll has appeared in Trek commercials as himself with "Tour Mania".

[edit] Cycling achievements

• 3-time Tour de France racer - 63rd (1986)[2], DNF due to a crash (1987)[3], 132nd (1990)[4]. In addition, Bob 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'Italia racer, including 1988 when he was a domestique for winner Andrew Hampsten. During the stage through the snow-covered Gavia Pass, Hampsten took 2nd and the leader's Maglia rosa, and Roll had to ride up the hill to deliver Hampsten's warm clothes. He finished 61st [5]. He finished 78th in 1985 [6] and 114th in 1989 [7].
• 7-time Paris-Roubaix racer - 55th (1986) [8], 48th (1987) [9], 25th (1988) [10], 37th (1989) [11], 61st (1990) [12], and two DNFs
• 2-time Liège-Bastogne-Liège racer - 17th (1987) [13], and 54th (1990) [14]
• 3-time Tour de Suisse racer - 56th (1987) - as a domestique for overall winner Andrew Hampsten [15], 48th (1990) [16]
• 2-time Dauphiné Libéré racer - 1990 [17], 97th (1991) - where in an odd twist he wore the number ending in 1 signifying he was Motorola's "team leader" for the event [18]

Bob Roll wins stage 1985 Coors Devils Cup Mt Diablo.

• 2-time Amstel Gold Race participant - 64th (1988) [19], 120th (1991) [20]
• Tour of Luxembourg racer - 40th (1987) [21]
• Won stage 3 of the 1988 Tour de Romandie [22]
• Won stage 11 (Vail criterium) of the 1985 Coors Classic
• Won the 1997 & 1998 San Francisco Hill Climb
• Raced in eight World Championships (in both road racing and mountain biking)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Bob Roll's website
• A weblog/tribute to Bob with comments on current events in cycling
• Advertising site featuring Bob Roll
• Bob in his 7-Eleven uniform
• 2007 Pezcyclingnews interview of Bob Roll by Matt Wood