Robert "Bobby" Julich ( ; born November 18, 1971), popularly called Bobby Julich, is an American former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

who last rode for

Team CSC Tinkoff () was a Russian-registered professional cycling team from Russia and previously Denmark. It competed in the UCI World Tour. The team was owned by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis from 2000 until 2013 and Russian banker Oleg T ...

in the

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle racing, road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, i ...

racing series. He got his international breakthrough when he finished 3rd overall in the

1998 Tour de France The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The race was composed of 21 stages and a prologue. It started on 11 July in Ireland before taking an anti-clockwise route t ...

, becoming only the second American to finish on the podium. He is a strong

time trialist A time trialist is a road bicycle racer who can maintain high speeds for long periods of time, to maximize performance during individual or team time trials. The term ''cronoman'', or ''chronoman'', is also used to refer to a time trialist. Detail ...

who won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Individual Time Trial, and combined with his high versatility he has won a number of stage races on the international circuits including the 2005 edition of

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

. In September 2008, he announced his retirement as a professional cyclist. He served as a technical director for until November 2010, when it was announced that he would move to for the 2011 season as a race coach. On October 25, 2012, Team Sky announced that Julich would part ways with the team due to his admission to doping in the past. This departure is therefore in line with Team Sky's policy (re-asserted in the wake of the USADA Reasoned Decision and subsequent UCI/

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

fall-out) of asking all current team personnel to admit to any past doping offences. After leaving Sky Julich worked as a coach for in 2014 before being announced by Team Tinkoff–Saxo as the team's head coach (

Directeur Sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

) for 2015, however in August 2015 he confirmed that he would leave the team at the end of the year.

Biography

Born in Texas, Julich has resided in

Glenwood Springs, Colorado Glenwood Springs is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality and the county seat of Garfield County, Colorado, Garfield County, Colorado, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, the ...

, since childhood, with a brief time in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he met his wife. Most of his living relatives reside in the New York area. Bobby Julich got his start in cycling winning the Red Zinger Mini Classics youth bicycle race in 1985. As an amateur cyclist Bobby Julich won the 1990 Junior National

Cyclo-Cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

Championship, and as a member of the US National Team he participated in the 1991

Tour DuPont The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held annually between 1989 and 1996, initially called the Tour de Trump in the first two years. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestig ...

. At the time it was the biggest stage race in the United States, and Julich finished 5th overall in a race which included fellow American cyclist and 3-time

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

winner

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France thrice and the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Road Race World Championship twice, becoming t ...

. Bobby won the award for the Best Young Rider and was heralded as the next LeMond. After a few "false" starts as a professional, he joined the

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

team in 1995 alongside Italian rider Andrea Peron and fellow Americans

and

George Hincapie George Anthony Hincapie (born June 29, 1973) is an American former racing cycle sport, cyclist, who competed professionally between 1994 and 2012. Hincapie was a key domestique of Lance Armstrong. Hincapie was also a domestique for Alberto Contad ...

. In the 1996 season, Bobby Julich was diagnosed with ''re-entrant

supraventricular tachycardia Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is an umbrella term for fast heart rhythms arising from the upper part of the heart. This is in contrast to the other group of fast heart rhythms – ventricular tachycardia, which start within the lower cham ...

'' (RSVT), a heart condition which meant his heart would beat much faster than normal. Julich was treated with

radiofrequency ablation Radiofrequency ablation (RFA), also called fulguration, is a medical procedure in which part of the electrical conduction system of the heart, tumor, sensory nerves or a dysfunctional tissue is ablated using the heat generated from medium fre ...

and was ready for the 1996

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

late in the season, a race which showed the first glimpses of his potential in international professional cycling. There, Julich held the

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest ...

jersey for ten stages. Despite a strong performance he relinquished the jersey but did finish 9th overall, the highest placing ever by an American in the Vuelta up until Lance Armstrong finished 4th overall in 1998. It was this performance that made other teams in the peloton take notice of Julich. When Motorola ended its sponsorship at the end of the 1996 season he joined the French

Cofidis Cofidis (from the French: mpagnie nancière de tribution) is a French multinational consumer credit company owned by Crédit Mutuel. It was founded in 1982 by 3 Suisses, a company jointly owned by the Otto and Mulliez families, to provid ...

team with a few fellow Motorola teammates, including Lance Armstrong. Armstrong's cancer meant that he was not able to compete with the team, while Julich went on to participate in the

1997 Tour de France The 1997 Tour de France was the 84th edition of the Tour de France and took place from 5 to 27 July. Jan Ullrich's victory margin of 9:09 was the largest margin of victory since Laurent Fignon won the 1984 Tour de France by 10:32. Since 1997 no r ...

. He performed well in this Tour, getting stronger as it progressed taking two top 10s in late mountain stages including one where he finished only behind the podium finishers

Richard Virenque Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", ...

Marco Pantani Marco Pantani (; 13 January 1970 – 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as one of the greatest climbing specialists in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and record ...

and

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...

. Then in the final ITT he placed 4th to finish the Tour in 17th overall. The embattled

was a breakthrough for Julich, when he took over the team leadership from Italian

Francesco Casagrande Francesco Casagrande (born 14 September 1970 in Florence) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist. Casagrande was a professional cyclist between 1992 and 2005. Biography He was a proven performer in the Grand Tours and the major ...

. Following the doping scandal of the 1998 Tour, only 96 of 189 riders completed the race, and Julich finished third on the podium with winner Pantani and runner-up Ullrich. Julich was hailed as the next American Tour de France champion and he was once more proclaimed to follow in the footsteps of Greg LeMond. The

1999 Tour de France The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...

saw Julich as one of the favorites for the overall win, but a crash during an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

forced him to quit the race, which was in turn won by the recovered Lance Armstrong. For the 2000 season, Julich moved to another French team Credit Agricole, joining compatriot Jonathan Vaughters. He was part of the Credit Agricole team that won the

team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

stage of the

2001 Tour de France The 2001 Tour de France was a race stage, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race held from 7 to 29 July, and the 88th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the eve ...

. After a move to Team Telekom of Germany in 2002, Julich rode as a

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their cycling team, team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équip ...

in support of his team captain Jan Ullrich. Julich only enjoyed lacklustre results, and at the end of the 2003 season he contemplated retiring.Cathy Mehl
Interview with Bobby Julich
, ''DailyPeloton.com'', February 21, 2006 Despite an offer below his wages at Team Telekom, Bobby Julich moved to the Danish outfit Team CSC in the 2004 season, where he joined up with former Motorola teammate Andrea Peron. He once again rode as a supporting rider in the Tour de France, but with the freedom to pursue his own chances during the rest of the season. Julich immediately saw his riding and performance improve, as he won a time-trial in the April 2004 race

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'') is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar. As the Basque Country is ...

, his first victory since the 1998 season. With Team CSC teammate

Jens Voigt Jens Voigt (; born 17 September 1971) is a German former professional road bicycle racer and, upon retirement, became a cycling sports broadcast commentator. During his cycling career, Voigt raced for several teams, the last one being UCI ProTe ...

, a rider Julich rode with in his time at Credit Agricole, he also won the two-man time trial LuK Challenge. Bobby Julich won a silver medal in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

men's individual time trial event behind Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov. Julich's renaissance continued in 2005 with his best-ever professional season, becoming the first American to win

. He also won the

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day Stage (bicycle race), bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in ...

and the Eneco Tour, making Julich the 8th ranked rider in the

, helping Team CSC become the highest ranked team of 2005. For the 2006 season, Julich planned to conserve energy for helping Team CSC captain

Ivan Basso Ivan Basso (born 26 November 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams. Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, was considered among the best mountain riders in ...

in his winning bid for both the

2006 Giro d'Italia The 2006 Giro d'Italia was the 89th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in the Belgian city of Seraing with a individual time trial. The race came to a close with a mass-start road stage that stretched from ...

in May and

2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Land ...

in July. Even though he did not start his season as strongly compared to 2005, he managed to finish 3rd at the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the ...

in February and he won the prologue of Paris–Nice in March, results that even positively surprised Julich himself.Shane Stokes
Bobby's guide to staying strong
''CyclingNews.com'', March 9, 2006 For the very first Giro d'Italia participation in his career, Julich had early aspirations of conquering the pink jersey for the leader of the general classification early in the race to lessen the pressure on Basso. However, Julich suffered heavily from

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

allergy throughout the race, and he did not play a major role himself, but focused on helping Ivan Basso, as Basso won the 2006 Giro. In the

, Julich abandoned the race after he suffered a crash on the stage 7 individual time trial. He went into a turn too fast, slid on small pebbles, and he severely injured his wrist when falling. In May 2011,

Tyler Hamilton Tyler Hamilton (born March 1, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cycl ...

, the winner of the men's time trial at the 2004 Summer Olympics, confessed that he had used doping products, and returned his gold medal. On August 10, 2012, Bobby Julich was upgraded from the bronze to the silver medal. In May 2013, he joined

BMC Racing Team CCC Pro Team () was a UCI WorldTeam co-owned and managed by American cyclist Jim Ochowicz, who founded the 7-Eleven Cycling Team. After its last title sponsor, CCC SA, CCC, a Polish shoe retailer, pulled out due to financial difficulties resultin ...

as a consultant. In November 2014, it was announced that Julich would join Tinkoff–Saxo as head coach, reuniting with Sean Yates (former sports director of

Team Sky Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the National Cyclin ...

) and team founder and manager

Bjarne Riis Bjarne Lykkegård Riis (; born 3 April 1964), nicknamed ''The Eagle from Herning'' (), is a Denmark, Danish former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1996 Tour de France. For many years he was the owner and later manager of the Oleg Tink ...

. Julich and Yates left after Riis's firing later in 2015.

Doping

On October 25, 2012, Julich admitted to "using EPO several times from August 1996 until July 1998" and resigned from the United Kingdom-based Team Sky. The team had issued a statement asking both riders and support staff to sign a document verifying that they did not use or administer performance-enhancing drugs during their careers. Julich stated that he wished to continue to be involved in the sport to some extent, and also that he would pay the consequences for his poor decisions. Julich did his self-confession at CyclingNews. His open letter told that during the Tour de France of 1998 his fiancée (now wife) discovered his use from another rider's wife. She told him if it would reoccur, the relationship would be over. His name was also on the list of doping tests published by the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

on 24 July 2013 that were collected during the

and found suspicious for EPO when retested in 2004.

Major results

;1988 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour de l'Abitibi ;1989 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour de l'Abitibi : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Trofeo Karlsberg ;1991 : 5th Overall

;1992 : 10th Overall

;1994 : 7th Overall

;1996 : 7th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc : 9th Overall

: 10th

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

;1997 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour de l'Ain Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié, is an annual professional cycling stage race held in eastern France. G.P. de l'Amitié The first edition of the race was in 1970, as the G.P. de l'Amitié (Friendship G.P.). It was held over f ...

::1st Stage 5b ( ITT) : Route du Sud ::1st Stages 2a & 2b ( ITT) ;1998 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 2nd Overall À travers Lausanne : 2nd Overall

Tour du Limousin Tour du Limousin is a 4-day road bicycle race held annually in Limousin, France. It was first held in 1968 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle raci ...

: 2nd Polynormande : 3rd Overall

: 5th

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; ; ) was a European Classic cycle races, Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 until 2014. It was a race with a long history ...

: 6th

Grand Prix Eddy Merckx Grand Prix Eddy Merckx was a cycle race around Brussels, where Eddy Merckx was born. It was held between 1980 and 2004, disappearing after the creation of the UCI ProTour in 2005. The race was initially an individual time trial, becoming a Team ti ...

;1999 : 2nd Trophée des Grimpeurs : 5th

Grand Prix Pino Cerami Grand Prix Pino Cerami is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in Hainaut, Belgium. From 2005 to 2019, the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, before being cancelled from 2019 to 2022. Upon its return in 2 ...

: 10th Overall Route du Sud ;2000 : 2nd Overall

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

: 5th EnBW Grand Prix (with

) : 6th Overall

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

;2001 : 1st Stage 5 ( TTT)

: 3rd

Gran Premio di Lugano The Gran Premio di Lugano () is a road bicycle race held annually in Lugano, Switzerland. Prior to 1981 it was held as an individual time trial but in recent years it has been organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe T ...

: 5th

: 9th Overall

;2002 : 7th Breitling Grand Prix (with Kevin Livingston) ;2003 : 3rd LuK Challenge Chrono (with

Alexander Vinokourov Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokourov ( Kazakh and Russian: ; born 16 September 1973) is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer and the current general manager of UCI WorldTeam . He is of Russian origin. As a competitor, his achieveme ...

) : 6th GP Triberg-Schwarzwald ;2004 : 1st LuK Challenge Chrono (with

) : 2nd

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: 2nd

(with

) : 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

::1st Stage 5b ( ITT) : 4th Overall

: 2nd Overall

Tour de Georgia The Tour de Georgia was a U.S. professional road cycling stage race across the state of Georgia. The race began in 2003 and was contested six times until 2008. It was one of the three events in North America ranked as Hors Classe ( 2.HC) stage ra ...

: 5th Overall

Ronde van Nederland The Tour of the Netherlands ''(Dutch: Ronde van Nederland)'' was a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948 in sports, 1948. It was an annual race since 1975 in sports, 1975. Because of the start of the Union Cycliste ...

: 8th Overall

;2005 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

: 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 3 ( ITT) : 1st Jersey red

Overall Eneco Tour ::1st Stage 7 ( ITT) : 1st LuK Challenge Chrono (with

) : 1st Stage 4 ( TTT)

: 4th Overall

: 5th Overall

: 9th Overall

;2006 : 1st Prologue

: 1st Stage 5 ( TTT)

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

: 1st

Eindhoven Team Time Trial The UCI ProTour Eindhoven Team Time Trial was an annual road bicycle race held in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It was approximately . Each team had six riders. In 2006, team size expanded to eight. Conceived as part of the UCI ProTour in 2005 UCI ProT ...

: 3rd Overall

: 6th LuK Challenge Chrono (with

) ;2007 : 1st Stage 2 ( TTT)

Deutschland Tour The Deutschland Tour (English: ''Tour of Germany'' and sometimes ''Deutschland-Rundfahrt'' in German) is the most important Race stage, multi-stage road bicycle racing, road bicycle race in Germany. Initially the race was held in May/June, but fro ...

: 1st

: 2nd Overall

Sachsen Tour The Sachsen Tour was a multi-stage road bicycle race held in the region of Saxony, Germany. It was first held in 1985 and wasorganised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour from 2005 until its final edition in 2009. Between 1985 and 1995 it was an ...

: 4th Overall

: National Road Championships ::5th

::8th Road race : 7th

Klasika Primavera The Klasika Primavera () is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in Amorebieta, Spain. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Established in 1946 as ''Gran Premio de Primavera'', it is now he ...

;2008 : 10th Overall

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* *
Bobby Julich's profile on Cycling Base
{{DEFAULTSORT:Julich, Bobby 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Corpus Christi, Texas American male cyclists American sportspeople in doping cases Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in cycling Doping cases in cycling Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics American cycling coaches People from Glenwood Springs, Colorado Cyclists from Texas 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen