Colorado's Bobby Julich posts top-10 finish in Tour of Spain, best American major stage-race finish in 1996
By Andrew Hood

The three-week, 2,447-mile Tour of Spain was more than Europe's third most important stage race for American Bobby Julich of the Motorola team.

The grueling, hotly contested Vuelta a España marked a change of fortune for the 24-year-old Julich, who says he's finally arrived at the elite level of professional cycling after toiling alone through the 1993 season without a team.

Julich crossed the finish line Sunday in Madrid with the best American finish in any of Europe's major stage races this year, in ninth place overall, 12 minutes and 47 seconds behind overall winner Alex Zulle.

"I'm really happy with the way the Vuelta went for me. It's opened new doors for me," said Julich, who this spring suffered from an irregular heartbeat that nearly derailed his season.

"I feel like the peloton respects me a lot more. I came in with nobody knowing who I was. I was just another rug rat out there trying to finish a three-week stage race," said Julich, one of two Americans on the Motorola team in the Tour of Spain.

When the 51st Vuelta started September 7, Julich was another faceless racer with an unclear future competing in his first major European stage race.

Motorola was ending its six-year commitment to the top U.S. pro team, Julich had no contract offers for the 1997 season, and the Colorado resident was recovering from heart problems that nearly stalled his career earlier in the season.

Three weeks later at the finish in Madrid, fortunes have changed. Julich was busy signing autographs and posing for pictures with Spanish cycling fans. The Glenwood Springs resident is now considering several offers from top European pro teams that will likely keep one of America's up-and-coming young riders in the pro peloton for another season.

"Now I have more offers than I know what to do with," Julich said, adding that he hasn't signed a deal yet, but is considering offers from French and Italian teams.

"It would be nice to stay with Motorola, because it's such a great team. They stayed with me when I was having troubles and gave me a chance when a lot of other people wouldn't," he said.

After racing in the United States with the Chevrolet team in 1994, Julich was picked up by Motorola in 1995. The team's patience paid off in the Vuelta, Europe's third major stage race behind the Tour de France and Tour of Italy.

Julich held the prestigious climber's jersey for 10 stages, he stayed with the strongest riders on the toughest climbs, and he finished with the best race of his five-year pro career.

Motorola team director Hennie Kuiper said Julich is a young rider with a promising future.

"It's very difficult to do what he did. It's fantastic," said Kuiper, a former racer who finished second twice in the Tour de France.

The team posted a strong performance in its last stage race under the Motorola banner, finishing second in the overall team classification with two riders into the top 10 overall. Along with Julich's ninth-place finish was Italy's Andrea Peron in eighth overall.

"You have to earn that place in the peloton, and Bobby did that," Kuiper said. "Now it's very difficult to stay where he is. He has to work hard in the off season and continue to focus on what he has to do to win."

Kuiper, one of cycling's greats during the late 1970s and early 1980s, tutored the young Julich and teammate Kevin Livingston throughout the race.

Kuiper said Julich is a great student of the sport and that the young American has matured since joining the Motorola team two years ago.

"Kevin and Bobby listen and learn. Some of the others, like the Italians, think that cycling comes from Italy and that they already know everything," Kuiper said. "I told Bobby that he can only improve. He's recognized what he can do and that's the most important thing."

Julich had a long, frustrating road to this top-10 finish.

He was one of America's top promising junior riders when he rode with top American cyclist Lance Armstrong on the U.S. national team in the early 1990s.

After turning pro in 1992, he posted a strong finish in the Tour DuPont that year but had the bad luck of being on a team without deep pockets. Julich found himself stranded without team sponsorship and tried to race in Europe alone during the 1993 season.

Frustrated, he almost gave up on cycling. Family and friends stuck with him and urged him to continue his dream of racing as a pro in Europe.

In 1994, he won three races in the United States with the Chevrolet team and caught the eye of Motorola team manager Jim Ochowicz. The top U.S. team signed Julich for 1995, when he rejoined former U.S. national teammate Armstrong.

"I'm really glad that it happened that way. Back on the U.S. national team, I was the poster boy. I needed a slap in the face to realize how lucky I am to be in this sport," Julich said.

Preparing for the 1996 season, Julich faced more hurdles. Julich's heartbeat tended to accelerate to dangerous levels during training rides. Frustrated, Julich again almost gave up on cycling. Again, a strong support group and the help of doctors helped him get back on his bike.

"I've matured a lot over the past two, three, four years. I'm proud that I pulled myself out of the adversity to be here," he said.

That new maturity was given a test in the Vuelta's eighth stage. Julich was heading up a steep hill to defend his climber's jersey when Russian rival Dimitri Konyshev body-checked him into the crowd, sending the American sprawling to the ground.

A shaken Julich quickly got back on his back and went on to win the next climb to retain the jersey for another day. Only a helmet saved him from serious injury.

"That could have ended my Vuelta right there. But I got back on the bike and didn't try to fight with Konyshev or make a big deal. I could tell right away the riders respected me more," Julich said.

"Things like that happen in racing. Konyshev said he was really sorry about what happened. But when I got right back in the race and went on to win the next climb, I could tell the riders were starting to accept me."

Indeed, in the Eurocentric world of professional cycling, American cyclists have always been outsiders.

Greg Lemond, who won three Tours de France (1986, 1989, 1990), was accepted only after his cycling skills catapulted him to the top of the cycling world.

Armstrong--who pulled out of this year's Tour de France and failed to win a medal in the Olympic road race in Atlanta--met resistance after winning the world road cycling championships in 1993 as the youngest-ever rider to win cycling's second most important title after the Tour de France.

"I'm really proud of what the Americans did in this Vuelta," said Julich, who represented the stars and stripes along with teammate Livingston and Chann McRae of the Santa Clara team. "To race here as an American is hard. You have to earn their respect."

"Americans are getting better and better all the time. We have such a large talent pool. We're going to be a bigger part of the peloton in the coming years," he said.

For Julich, the immediate future is the world championships set for Lugano, Switzerland, October 9-13. After that, he hopes only for continued success.

"When you have the form, you got to go with it," Julich said before starting the final stage of the Vuelta. "I feel great about the future. I can't wait for next season."

Andrew Hood has been in Spain covering the Vuelta for Outside Online.