Bob Roll

Bob Roll
	Bob Roll at the 2003 Tour of Hope in Washington, D.C.
Personal information
Born	7 July 1960 (age 64); Oakland, California, United States of America
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional teams
1985–1990	You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead: Alerting users {{alert/first}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/first}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the contentious topics system if they have never received such an alert before. In this case, this template must be used for the notification.; {{alert}} ({{Contentious topics/alert}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the fact that a specific topic is a contentious topic. It may only be used if the user has previously received any contentious topic alert, and it can be replaced by a custom message that conveys the contentious topic designation.; {{alert/DS}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/DS}}) is used to inform editors that the old "discretionary sanctions" system has been replaced by the contentious topics system, and that a specific topic is a contentious topic.; {{Contentious topics/aware}} is used to register oneself as already aware that a specific topic is a contentious topic.; Editnotices {{Contentious topics/editnotice}} is used to inform editors that a page is covered by the contentious topics system using an editnotice. Use the one below if the page has restrictions placed on the page.; {{Contentious topics/page restriction editnotice}} is used to inform editors that the page they are editing is subject to contentious topics restrictions using an editnotice. Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.; Talk page notices {{Contentious topics/talk notice}} is used to provide additional communication, using a talk page messagebox (tmbox), to editors that they are editing a page that is covered by the contentious topics system. The template standardises the format and wording of such notices. Use the below if there are restrictions placed on the page.; {{Contentious topics/page restriction talk notice}} is used to inform editors that page restrictions are active on the page using a talk page messagebox (tmbox). Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.; If a user who has been alerted goes on to disruptively edit the affected topic area, they can be reported to the arbitration enforcement (AE) noticeboard, where an administrator will investigate their conduct and issue a sanction if appropriate. {{AE sanction}} is used by administrators to inform a user that they have been sanctioned.; Miscellaneous {{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia.;
1991	You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead: Alerting users {{alert/first}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/first}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the contentious topics system if they have never received such an alert before. In this case, this template must be used for the notification.; {{alert}} ({{Contentious topics/alert}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the fact that a specific topic is a contentious topic. It may only be used if the user has previously received any contentious topic alert, and it can be replaced by a custom message that conveys the contentious topic designation.; {{alert/DS}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/DS}}) is used to inform editors that the old "discretionary sanctions" system has been replaced by the contentious topics system, and that a specific topic is a contentious topic.; {{Contentious topics/aware}} is used to register oneself as already aware that a specific topic is a contentious topic.; Editnotices {{Contentious topics/editnotice}} is used to inform editors that a page is covered by the contentious topics system using an editnotice. Use the one below if the page has restrictions placed on the page.; {{Contentious topics/page restriction editnotice}} is used to inform editors that the page they are editing is subject to contentious topics restrictions using an editnotice. Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.; Talk page notices {{Contentious topics/talk notice}} is used to provide additional communication, using a talk page messagebox (tmbox), to editors that they are editing a page that is covered by the contentious topics system. The template standardises the format and wording of such notices. Use the below if there are restrictions placed on the page.; {{Contentious topics/page restriction talk notice}} is used to inform editors that page restrictions are active on the page using a talk page messagebox (tmbox). Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.; If a user who has been alerted goes on to disruptively edit the affected topic area, they can be reported to the arbitration enforcement (AE) noticeboard, where an administrator will investigate their conduct and issue a sanction if appropriate. {{AE sanction}} is used by administrators to inform a user that they have been sanctioned.; Miscellaneous {{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia.;
1992	You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead: Alerting users {{alert/first}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/first}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the contentious topics system if they have never received such an alert before. In this case, this template must be used for the notification.; {{alert}} ({{Contentious topics/alert}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the fact that a specific topic is a contentious topic. It may only be used if the user has previously received any contentious topic alert, and it can be replaced by a custom message that conveys the contentious topic designation.; {{alert/DS}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/DS}}) is used to inform editors that the old "discretionary sanctions" system has been replaced by the contentious topics system, and that a specific topic is a contentious topic.; {{Contentious topics/aware}} is used to register oneself as already aware that a specific topic is a contentious topic.; Editnotices {{Contentious topics/editnotice}} is used to inform editors that a page is covered by the contentious topics system using an editnotice. Use the one below if the page has restrictions placed on the page.; {{Contentious topics/page restriction editnotice}} is used to inform editors that the page they are editing is subject to contentious topics restrictions using an editnotice. Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.; Talk page notices {{Contentious topics/talk notice}} is used to provide additional communication, using a talk page messagebox (tmbox), to editors that they are editing a page that is covered by the contentious topics system. The template standardises the format and wording of such notices. Use the below if there are restrictions placed on the page.; {{Contentious topics/page restriction talk notice}} is used to inform editors that page restrictions are active on the page using a talk page messagebox (tmbox). Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page.; If a user who has been alerted goes on to disruptively edit the affected topic area, they can be reported to the arbitration enforcement (AE) noticeboard, where an administrator will investigate their conduct and issue a sanction if appropriate. {{AE sanction}} is used by administrators to inform a user that they have been sanctioned.; Miscellaneous {{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia.;

Bob "Bobke" Roll (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional cyclist, author, and television sports commentator. He was a member of the You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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Miscellaneous

{{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia. in 1991. In 1992 Roll moved to Greg LeMond's Z team and added mountain biking to his racing accomplishments. Roll continued racing mountain bikes professionally through 1998. Roll is known in the cycling world, and to his global cable television fans, as "Bobke".

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. He is credited with suggesting that Joe Parkin, professional cyclist and author, move to Europe and wrote the foreword for Joe's first book.^[1]

Cycling career

Roll started cycling in 1981 in his home region of Northern California. He spent two years in the States racing before heading to Belgium to race. After a furthur two years he became a professional cyclist for You have called {{Contentious topics}}. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:

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Miscellaneous

{{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia., his first race was the 1985 Giro d'Italia.^[2]

During the 1988 Giro d'Italia Roll's job as a domestique pushed him to the limit, causing him to pass out at the finish and his heart to stop beating.^[3]

In 1998 a young Lance Armstrong, continuing to recover from testicular cancer remediation, had recently dropped out of the Paris–Nice cycling race. Armstrong's training coach, Chris Carmichael, invited Roll to journey to Boone, North Carolina, to talk with Lance and do training rides with the young Armstrong for several days.^[4]^[5] Armstrong was extremely discouraged by his recent European cycling results, and Carmichael believed Armstrong had lost his career focus and was on the verge of fully retiring from professional cycling. Almost out of desperation, Carmichael talked Armstrong into doing one last series of intensive training rides, with Roll as his riding partner.

According to Roll, "I am sure Lance had probably never met a bike racer like me...a person who could still find some joy and happiness in such weather misery. We had eight hours a day, for eight straight days, of continuous riding in the pouring rain - rain in Biblical proportions! I think Lance would've turned things around even without our talks and rides in the Appalachia[n]s, but it turned out to be a pivotal career event for him (and Roll had made a new cycling friend)." A refocused and encouraged Armstrong went on to a successful fourth-place finish in the Vuelta a España, and within a year and a half he had won his first yellow jersey overall victory in the Tour de France road race. Armstrong has since had his yellow jersey wins nullified due to doping. (Roll's tale of the ride is in Bobke II;^[6] Armstrong's is in It's Not About the Bike.^[7])

Post cycling

Roll continues to enjoy riding road and mountain bicycles for recreation, and is a member of the veteran cable television broadcasting team (along with Phil Liggett, MBE and the late Paul Sherwen) who serve as road cycling expert-commentators for the NBC Sports Network cable network's coverage of the Tour de France, Vuelta a España, Giro d'Italia, Paris–Roubaix, Tour of California, and other international cycling road races.^[8]

Roll has appeared in a series of Road ID Tour de France television commercials as himself, riding a bus along with "Tour Mania" (a costumed-disguised rowdy faux rock group played by well-known professional cyclists, such as George Hincapie).

Major results

Sources:^[9]^[10]^[11]

1985

10th Overall Coors Classic

1st Stage 9

1986: 1st Stage 3 Rocky Mountains Classic; 1st Stage 3 Vuelta de Baja California; 1st Stage 3 (TTT) Redlands Bicycle Classic
1987: 1st Affoltern am Albis Criterium; 6th Eschborn–Frankfurt; 7th Overall Milk Race; 8th Tour du Nord-Ouest
1988: 1st Stage 3 Tour de Romandie
1990: 1st Stage 2 Tucson Bicycle Classic
1992: 5th Overall Tour of the Adirondacks
1997: 1st San Francisco Hill Climb
1998: 1st San Francisco Hill Climb

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990
Vuelta a España	—	—	—	—	—	—
Giro d'Italia	78	—	—	61	114	—
Tour de France	—	63	DNF	—	—	132

Legend
—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish

Bibliography

Roll, Bob (1995). Bobke: A Ride on the Wild Side of Cycling. Boulder, Colo.: Velo Press. ISBN 1-884737-12-9. OCLC 41853737.
Roll, Bob; Roll, Bob (2003). Bobke II. Boulder, Colo.: VeloPress. ISBN 978-1-931382-28-1. OCLC 53097074.
Roll, Bob; Koeppel, Dan (2005). The Tour de France Companion 2005: A Nuts, Bolts & Spokes Guide to the Greatest Race in the World. New York: Workman ; Godalming : Melia [distributor]. ISBN 978-0-7611-3798-6. OCLC 58053518.

References

^ Joe Parkin (2008). A Dog in a Hat. VeloPress.
^ Maestas, Amy. "The Durango Telegraph". archives.durangotelegraph.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
^ "Former bike racer Bob Roll rolls into TV career with offbeat wit". The Mercury News. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
^ "Coach Remembers When Armstrong Almost Quit". Associated Press. 2005-07-25. Archived from the original on 2006-05-23.
^ Litsky, Frank (1999-08-01). "CYCLING; Finding His Missing Desire in the Mountains". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-04. Armstrong needed a training partner. When Carmichael suggested Roll, Armstrong said, "That's perfect." And when Armstrong called Roll, Roll's wife, Chiara, urged her husband to accept. "I think Bob has incredible talent and personality," she said. "He could boost anybody's morale. Bob made Lance remember all the good things about cycling."
^ "Blog Archive » What About BOB?". MissingSaddle. 2006-05-26. Archived from the original on 2012-02-04. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
^ Lance Armstrong, Sally Jenkins: It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, Chapter 5, (ISBN 0-425-17961-3), Putnam 2000.
^ "Bob Roll". NBC Sports Pressbox. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
^ "Bob Roll". www.cyclingarchives.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
^ "Bob Roll". FirstCycling.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
^ "Bob Roll". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.

External links

Bob Roll at Cycling Archives (archived)
Bob Roll at ProCyclingStats
Bob Roll's website
Bob Roll's book
A weblog/tribute to Bob with comments on current events in cycling
Bob in his 7-Eleven uniform
2007 Pezcyclingnews interview of Bob Roll by Matt Wood

[1] Joe Parkin (2008). A Dog in a Hat. VeloPress.

[2] Maestas, Amy. "The Durango Telegraph". archives.durangotelegraph.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.

[3] "Former bike racer Bob Roll rolls into TV career with offbeat wit". The Mercury News. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2023.

[4] "Coach Remembers When Armstrong Almost Quit". Associated Press. 2005-07-25. Archived from the original on 2006-05-23.

[Litsky1999-5] Litsky, Frank (1999-08-01). "CYCLING; Finding His Missing Desire in the Mountains". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-04. Armstrong needed a training partner. When Carmichael suggested Roll, Armstrong said, "That's perfect." And when Armstrong called Roll, Roll's wife, Chiara, urged her husband to accept. "I think Bob has incredible talent and personality," she said. "He could boost anybody's morale. Bob made Lance remember all the good things about cycling."

[6] "Blog Archive » What About BOB?". MissingSaddle. 2006-05-26. Archived from the original on 2012-02-04. Retrieved 2012-07-20.

[7] Lance Armstrong, Sally Jenkins: It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, Chapter 5, (ISBN 0-425-17961-3), Putnam 2000.

[8] "Bob Roll". NBC Sports Pressbox. Retrieved 11 August 2023.

[9] "Bob Roll". www.cyclingarchives.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.

[10] "Bob Roll". FirstCycling.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.

[11] "Bob Roll". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.

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