Things have changed somewhat since Bobby Julich's early days as a junior cyclist, intimidated by the riders on the Front Range.

It's hard to imagine someone who has been racing professionally around the world for the past 12 years worried about some kids on the other side of the state, but the memory is still with Julich.

"What really made me commit (to cycling) was to finally throw away all the fear," Julich said Wednesday to a gathering for the Western Colorado Cycling Club Wednesday evening. "Commitment came when I was not scared or nervous. Once I let go of the fear I went and won my first race."

Julich, then 14 years old, earned a T-shirt, hat, board game and pizza for winning that Red Zinger youth race. For a cyclist who went on to stand on the podium in the Tour de France and in the Olympics, it's not a huge haul, but it was the beginning of his competitive racing career.

His words certainly resonated with the 50-plus people in attendance Wednesday night, there to gain some cycling insight and catch a glimpse of the bronze medal the 1990 Glenwood Springs High School graduate brought back for his hometown fans to see.



Highs and lows

Julich made what he called a "meteoric rise to the Tour de France podium," finishing third in the 1998 as a member of Cofidis. It was just his second Tour.

"Third in the Tour was definitely big at the time, now it seems like it was there and gone so fast," Julich said. "The real special memory for me ... was that a buddy of mine died that day in 1990 on Aug. 2. When I saw that year on Aug. 2 the Tour de France ended I said, 'I have to make this worthwhile.' It definitely motivated me."

An injury-plagued 1999 season saw Julich crash out of the Tour de France and suffer a concussion at the Tour of Spain. The 1999 season began a slump for Julich as he bounced from Cofidis, Credit Agricole and Telecom over the next five seasons.

More importantly, he wasn't mentally where a top-tier cyclist needed to be - he lost confidence.

"The most paralyzing thing a cyclist can feel is hesitation," Julich said.



Finding a 'family'

Julich considered retiring, but was offered a contract by Team CSC in 2004. He almost didn't go to camp when he wasn't happy with the offer. But he gave it a shot,z with plans to back out and start a life outside of competitive cycling if it wasn't a better situation than his previous teams.

"Decisions - life is full of them," Julich said. "Sometimes you make the right decisions, sometimes it's the wrong decision and you get second, third and fourth chances."

It's a good thing he gave CSC a chance.

"When I went to CSC, everyone on the team looked at me as somebody who could help the team," Julich said.

He refers to CSC as a "family," and in finding his family, he also found his old form and his confidence.

Every family has a father figure, and it seems Bjarne Riis fills that role for CSC. The 1996 Tour de France champion runs CSC with a strong team philosophy that has served both the team and its individual members well.

"He's the guy who put it all together," Julich said. "His main gift is that he knows how to pick a lot of different people from a lot of different countries and put them all together."

For Julich, the result was a rejuvenated career and his best two years of results, highlighted by a bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics time trial - something that he saw, sort of, in advance of the event.

"Honestly, I had envisioned - done some mental imagery - that I would hear my national anthem on the podium," he said. "So it was kind of bizarre that I was hearing the national anthem on the podium when I was third. But it was good enough."

Fellow American Tyler Hamilton took gold in the event.

Julich's solid 2004 season was followed by a 2005 in which he became the first American to with the Paris-Nice general classification and he also won the Criterium International and Benelux Tour.

The Paris-Nice was particularly sweet, coming in his adopted hometown of Nice, France.



The future

Julich turns 34 today and has no illusions that his days as a professional cyclist are winding down.

On a board in his workout room at home he still lists career goals he would like to accomplish before hanging up the pedals.

Among them is to win a stage or wear his first yellow leader's jersey in the Tour de France and, since he will likely be competing in the Tour of Italy in the upcoming season, wear the leader's pink jersey in that race.

Riding with one of the Tour's favorites this year in Ivan Basso, he will likely have some opportunities to be at the front of the peloton. He will also need to sacrifice his personal goals for the team leader, which is fine with Julich.

"In the Tour de France everybody needs to be focusing for the strongest guy," Julich said. "As long as there is a reciprocal relationship and the domestiques are getting something out of the (team leader's) success, I think it seems to work out."

And, as Julich proved at the Paris-Nice last season, he shouldn't be counted out in a Tour of Italy if he ends up in a team-leader role.

With a newly-inked two-year contract with CSC, Julich isn't sure how long beyond that he will continue to race, but he certainly would like to give the Olympics another shot in three years.

"Obviously I'm planning on doing at least three more years to try for one more Olympics," Julich said. "I'd love to do the Olympics in Beijing. That would be fantastic because by far the coolest thing I've ever done was go to Athens and get a medal.

"That was absolutely a different dimension of the sport and it's the real reason I got into the sport - just the love of it," he added. "There was no prize money, but that medal is worth more than any trophy or prize money I've won over the years."

And there's little doubt his fans in Glenwood would love to see him back with some gold to go along with the bronze medal that came with him on this trip.