Being the son of an extremely successful cyclist comes with certain pitfalls. Nicolas Roche also realised this at the start of his career. Expectations are high and comparisons are quickly made: The father was successful - so the son should be too. "In the first few years, you get the feeling that the others are disappointed because I didn't win Paris-Nice or the races that my father won at the start of his career," said Roche to Velonews in 2014.
He therefore found his own way of dealing with his father's successes. "I realised very quickly that I wasn't going to be better than him. How could I be? There were only a few who were better than him. But I can do other things. I think people realised that pretty quickly," Roche continued.
Stephen Roche wins Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Road World Championship in 1987
The bar set by his father was unattainably high. In his first professional season in 1981, Stephen Roche immediately won the Paris-Nice long-distance race and established himself as one of the top riders of the 1980s. He entered the history books of cycling in 1987 when he became the second rider after Eddy Merckx to win the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the Road World Championships in one year. To this day, he is the only Irishman to win the Tour. Roche ended his career in 1993. His brother Laurence Roche was also a professional for several years: in 1991, both brothers even took part in the Tour de France together.
As Stephen Roche married a French woman and spent most of his professional career in France, Nicolas Roche was also born in the country. His godfather, meanwhile, is another Irish cycling icon: Sean Kelly. Nevertheless, Nicolas Roche spent his youth in Ireland before moving back to France as a junior and spending his first professional years with the French teams Cofidis (2005 to 2006), Credit Agricole (2007 to 2008) and Ag2r La Mondiale (2009 to 2012).
Nicolas Roche celebrates success at the Vuelta a Espana
However, he never came close to his father's results. Nevertheless, Nicolas Roche established himself in cycling and achieved some notable Grand Tour results at the Vuelta a Espana: sixth place in 2010, fifth place in 2013. He also won a stage at the Tour of Spain in 2013, 2015 and 2017 (team time trial). Roche later worked in particular as a helper and road captain for Team Sky, BMC and Sunweb (later DSM).
The Irish family history goes even further, however, as Nicolas Roche was active in the professional peloton at the same time as his cousin Daniel Martin. Martin - unlike Roche - clearly overshadowed his father in sporting terms, including winning the Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Tour of Lombardy classics and taking two stage wins each at the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana. His British-born father Neil Martin was only briefly a professional rider in the 1980s and won two stages of the Tour of Britain. He also took part in the Olympic Games for Great Britain as an amateur in 1980 and 1984.
Daniel Martin switches to Irish licence
At amateur level, Neil Martin also raced against Stephen Roche at the beginning - and got to know his sister Maria, whom he later married. Daniel Martin was born in Birmingham, England, in 1986 and even became British U18 champion in 2004 before deciding to ride under an Irish licence through his Irish mother Maria.
Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin ended their careers in 2021. They both contested one of their last major races together for the Irish national team at the Olympic road race in Tokyo.
