The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by

Jim Ochowicz Jim Ochowicz (born December 23, 1951) is a former Olympic bicyclist and manager of UCI WorldTeam . He served as president of the USA Cycling Board of Directors from 2002 to 2006.http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3512 Mark Abramson ...

, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist. The team lasted 16 years, under the sponsorship of

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

through 1990 and then

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 ...

from 1990 through 1996. From 1989 to 1996 it rode on

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an ...

bikes.

History

7-Eleven was formed as an amateur cycling team in 1981 by Ochowicz, a 29-year-old former Olympic cyclist from the U.S., who was married to Olympic speed skating gold medalist Sheila Young. Ochowicz had managed the U.S. national speed-skating team and was friends with

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...

and Beth Heiden, who were both excellent cyclists as well as champion speed skaters. He managed to get sponsorship from the Southland Corporation, owners of the

convenience-store chain, and bicycle manufacturer

Schwinn The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895, and in the 20th century became the domi ...

to form an amateur team. Of the seven men on the inaugural 7-Eleven-Schwinn team racing in 1981, Eric Heiden (who swept the gold medals in speed skating in the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

) was the captain and the best known. The other Americans were Jeff Bradley, Greg Demgen, Bradley Davies, Tom Schuler, Danny Van Haute and Roger Young (Ochowicz's brother-in-law). They were joined by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Ron Hayman. Although Schwinn dropped out as a co-sponsor in 1982, 7-Eleven added a women's team with Rebecca Twigg, among others, as well as more male riders, including Davis Phinney, Ron Kiefel and Canadian Alex Stieda. The all-amateur 7-Eleven team was featured in the 1985 movie '' American Flyers'', starring

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Costner, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primeti ...

. The 1986 Cycling Media Guide published for the 1986 World Championships lists Jeff Bradley, Chris Carmichael, Alexi Grewal, Eric Heiden, Ron Kiefel, Davis Phinney, Bob Roll, Tom Schuler, Doug Shapiro and Alex Stieda with an additional group of amateur men on the team including Frankie Andreu, Curt Harnett, David Lettieri, Robert Mathis, Leonard "Harvey" Nitz and Russell Scott. Southland continued its commitment by sponsoring the cycling venue at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles, where nine Americans won cycling medals. The other (especially equipment) sponsors of the team included Descente, Huffy, Campagnolo, and Tag Heuer. Often, those sponsors elected not to continue after their initial contracts were completed. In 1985, Ochowitz changed the men's team's status to professional and asked Mike Neel to be the directeur sportif in Europe. The team went to Europe with an initial roster of members including Olympic gold medalists Alexi Grewal and Heiden, Olympic bronze medalists Phinney and Kiefel, Bradley, Schuler, Hayman, Stieda, and Chris Carmichael. When the team received an invitation to the 1985 Giro d'Italia, one of the Grand Tours of Europe, a young American cyclist based in Europe named Andrew Hampsten was added to the team under a 30-day contract for the race. After both Kiefel and Hampsten stunningly won stages during the Giro, becoming the first American stage winners ever at a Grand Tour, 7-Eleven was invited to the 1986 Tour de France and became one of the major cycling teams for the next decade, under the sponsorship of Southland through 1990 and then Motorola through 1996. Ochowicz disbanded the team after the 1996 season, when Motorola decided to discontinue sponsorship. While it was not the first professional cycling team in the U.S., 7-Eleven was responsible for an overall increase in bike racing interest in the U.S. The team claimed a win in a Grand Tour, when Andrew Hampsten won the general classification as well as the mountains classification at the 1988 Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy). It also claimed a handful of world championship medals and US championships, as well as

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 ...

and Giro stage wins and one more Grand Tour podium (Hampsten's third in the 1989 Giro d'Italia). It was the second U.S. team to ride the Giro d'Italia (1985) (the Gianni Motta team was the first in 1984) and in the Tour de France (1986), where two Canadian riders on the team held the yellow jersey on different occasions ( Alex Stieda in 1986 and Steve Bauer in 1990). Its Tour de France stage winners included Phinney, Jeff Pierce, Hampsten, Sean Yates and

Dag Otto Lauritzen Dag Otto Lauritzen (born 13 September 1956) is a Norwegian television personality and retired professional cyclist. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles he won a bronze medal in the individual road race. He was the first Norwegian to win ...

from Norway. In 1989 Brian Walton won the pro-am Milk Race (Tour of Britain). As of 2009, Team 7-Eleven is the only cycling team to have been inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame. During 2025 Liège–Bastogne–Liège Norwegian cycling team Uno-X Mobility raced in 7-Eleven jerseys. Both Uno-X and 7-Eleven are owned by Reitan conglomerate.

Bike sponsor

Three bike manufacturers sponsored the team throughout the years:

from 1981 to 1984, Murray from 1985 to 1986,

Huffy The Huffy Corporation is the largest U.S. market-share supplier of bicycles with its headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio, United States. Early history It has its roots in 1887 when George Huffman, George P. Huffman purchased the Davis Se ...

from 1987 to 1988, although the team bikes from 1985 to 1988 were primarily built by Ben Serotta. Finally

sponsored the team from 1989 through their ultimate cessation in 1996. For Eddy Merckx, sponsoring the American team had a special meaning.

said:

Race radios

During Motorola's sponsorship of the team in the 1990s, the riders began communicating with the team cars through the use of two-way radios built by Motorola. The radios were slowly adopted through the rest of the professional peloton, becoming standard equipment by 2002. Acceptance of these radios was hastened by the success in the Tour de France of former Motorola rider

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 ...

, who continued to use a race radio when he joined the U.S. Postal Service cycling team.

Major wins

;1985 : National Road Race Championships, Eric Heiden :

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a ...

, Ron Kiefel :Stage 15

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 ...

, Ron Kiefel :Stage 20

, Andrew Hampsten ;1986 :Stage 3

, Davis Phinney ;1987 : National Road Race Championships, Tom Schuler : Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt,

Overall Tour de Suisse, Andrew Hampsten :Stage 12

, Davis Phinney :Stage 14

:Stage 25

, Jeff Pierce ;1988 : Giro di Toscana, Ron Kiefel : National Road Race Championships, Ron Kiefel :Stage 3

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 ...

, Andrew Hampsten :Stage 3

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

Bob Roll Bob "Bobke" Roll (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional cyclist, author, and television sports commentator. He was a member of the team until 1990 and competed for the team in 1991. In 1992 Roll moved to Greg LeMond's Z team ...

:Stage 5

, Davis Phinney : Jersey pink

Overall

, Andrew Hampsten :: Jersey green

King of the Mountains Classification ::Stages 12 & 18, Andrew Hampsten ;1989 : Grand Prix Eddy Merckx, Sean Yates :Overall Tour de Belgique, Sean Yates :Stage 2

, jens Veggerby :Overall Tour de Trump. Dag-Otto Lauritzen : Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian, Gerhard Zadrobilek :

Urkiola Igoera - Subida Urkiola Subida a Urkiola is a one-day cycling race in Durango, Biscay in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country whose starts in Durango, Spain, Durango and ends at the Sanctuary of Urkiola. The first edition began in 1931, organized by ...

, Andrew Hampsten ;1990 :Stage 1 Etoile de Besseges, Scott McKinley :Stage 1 Tour de Suisse, Nathan Dahlberg :Stage 7 Tour de Suisse, Andrew Hampsten :

, Andrew Hampsten ;1991 :Overall Tour Méditerranéen, Phil Anderson : Wateringse Wielerdag, Phil Anderson :Stage 5 Critérium du Dauphiné, Sean Yates :Stage 8 Tour de Suisse, Phil Anderson :Stage 10

, Phil Anderson ;1992 :Overall Jersey yellow

, Sean Yates ::Stage 3

, Andrew Hampsten ::Stage 5

, Maximilian Sciandri :Stage 14

, Andrew Hampsten :Stage 2

, Maximilian Sciandri : National Road Race Championship, Sean Yates : GP d´Isbergues, Phil Anderson ;1993 : National Road Race Championship,

:Overall Tour of Sweden, Phil Anderson : Giro del Veneto, Maximilian Sciandri : Coppa Placci, Maximilian Sciandri :Overall Tour de Luxembourg, Maximilian Sciandri :

:Stage 8

:World Road Race Championship,

: Grand Prix de Fourmies, Maximilian Sciandri :Overall Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Alvaro Mejia Castrillon : GP Raymond Impanis, Phil Anderson ;1994 :

GP Herning Grand Prix Herning is a one-day road bicycle race held in Midtjylland, Denmark. The race is organised by Herning Bicycle Club with both start and goal in Herning. The race is characterised by its gravel paths, which result in multiple punctur ...

, Brian Smith :Overall Route du Sud, Alvaro Mejia Castrillon : National Road Race Championship, Brian Smith :Stage 6

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne (; ), officially abbreviated TdP, is an annual, professional men's Race stage, multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km ...

, Frankie Andreu ;1995 : Profronde van Almelo, Max van Heeswijk : Criterium Woerden, Wiebren Veenstra : Acht van Chaam,

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 ...

:Stage 5

:Stage 2 Critérium du Dauphiné, Wiebren Veenstra :Stage 18

: Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian,

;1996 : Vuelta a Castilla y León, Andrea Peron :Stage 8a

, Maximilian Sciandri :

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. It is part of the UCI World Tour. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is ...

References

External links

1986 Tour de France Profile of 7/11 TeamInside Cycling with John Wilcockson: The boys from 7-Eleven and the debut of American pro road racing (VeloNews)Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: The “premature” Tour of America, and a Phinney first (VeloNews)
Defunct cycling teams based in the United States

Cycling Team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...