Bobby Julich facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bobby Julich

Personal information
Full name	Robert Julich
Nickname	Bobby J
Born	(1971-11-18) November 18, 1971 (age 53) Corpus Christi, Texas, United States of America
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb; 11 st 5 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Time-trialist/Climber
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 1 TTT stage (2001) Giro d'Italia 1 TTT stage (2006) Stage races Paris–Nice (2005) Eneco Tour (2005) Critérium International (1998, 2005)

Robert "Bobby" Julich (born November 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He was known as a strong time trialist, which means he was very good at racing against the clock. Bobby Julich became famous when he finished third in the 1998 Tour de France, a very important cycling race. He was only the second American to achieve this!

He also won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the individual time trial event. Bobby won several other big races, like Paris–Nice and the Eneco Tour in 2005. He retired from professional cycling in September 2008. After retiring, he worked as a coach for several top cycling teams, including Team Sky, BMC Racing Team, and Tinkoff–Saxo. He left Team Sky in 2012 due to past issues that did not fit the team's strict rules.

About Bobby Julich

Bobby Julich was born in Texas. He grew up in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. When he was a child, he won the Red Zinger Mini Classics youth bike race in 1985. This was how he started his cycling journey.

As a young amateur cyclist, Bobby won the 1990 Junior National Cyclo-cross Championship. He was also part of the US National Team. In 1991, he raced in the Tour DuPont, which was the biggest stage race in the United States at the time. Bobby finished 5th overall and won the "Best Young Rider" award. People thought he might be the next Greg LeMond, another famous American cyclist.

Early Professional Career

Bobby Julich joined the Motorola team in 1995. He raced alongside other well-known cyclists like Lance Armstrong. In 1996, Bobby was diagnosed with a heart condition called re-entrant supraventricular tachycardia (RSVT). This made his heart beat much faster than normal. He received treatment and was able to race again later that year.

He showed his talent in the 1996 Vuelta a España. He wore the "King of the Mountains" jersey for ten stages! He finished 9th overall in the race. This was a great result for an American cyclist.

Moving to Cofidis and Tour de France Success

After Motorola stopped sponsoring the team, Bobby joined the French Cofidis team in 1997. He raced in the 1997 Tour de France and performed very well, especially in the mountain stages.

The 1998 Tour de France was a huge moment for Bobby. He became the team leader and finished third overall! This was an amazing achievement, placing him on the podium with the winner, Marco Pantani, and runner-up, Jan Ullrich. Many people believed he could win the Tour de France in the future. In the 1999 Tour de France, he was one of the favorites, but a crash forced him to leave the race.

New Teams and Olympic Medal

In 2000, Bobby moved to another French team, Credit Agricole. He was part of the team that won a team time trial stage in the 2001 Tour de France. Later, he joined Team Telekom in Germany in 2002. Here, he mostly rode as a domestique, which means he helped his team captain, Jan Ullrich.

By the end of 2003, Bobby was thinking about retiring. But then, he joined the Danish team, Team CSC, in 2004. This move changed everything for him! He started riding much better. He won a time trial in the Tour of the Basque Country in April 2004. This was his first win since 1998. He also won the two-man time trial LuK Challenge with his teammate Jens Voigt.

The biggest highlight of 2004 was winning a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He competed in the men's individual time trial event.

Best Season and Retirement

Bobby Julich had his best professional season in 2005. He became the first American to win Paris–Nice, a very important stage race. He also won the Critérium International and the Eneco Tour. These wins helped Team CSC become the highest-ranked team that year.

In 2006, Bobby focused on helping his Team CSC captain, Ivan Basso, win the 2006 Giro d'Italia and 2006 Tour de France. He won the prologue (a short opening time trial) of Paris–Nice that year. He also helped Ivan Basso win the Giro d'Italia. Sadly, Bobby had to leave the 2006 Tour de France after a crash injured his wrist.

In May 2011, Tyler Hamilton, who won the gold medal in the 2004 Olympic time trial, admitted to using doping products and returned his medal. Because of this, Bobby Julich was officially upgraded from a bronze medal to a silver medal on August 10, 2012.

After retiring from racing, Bobby worked as a consultant for BMC Racing Team in 2013. In 2014, he became the head coach for Tinkoff–Saxo, working with Bjarne Riis. He left the team in 2015.

Major Results

Grand Tour Results Timeline

Grand Tour	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	92
Tour de France	—	17	3	DNF	48	18	37	—	40	17	DNF
/ Vuelta a España	9	—	—	DNF	—	—	—	95	—	—	—

See also

In Spanish: Bobby Julich para niños