Bobby Behan

Recent Bobby Behan Videos:

Bobby Behan has no videos available.

Sports Marketing Manager, Mountain Bike and Triathlon

Specialized Global Marketing

I am an Irishman, come from a farming family and have five younger brothers, which meant I had to stand my ground from a young age! In my early years I was a competitive swimmer and runner while been a fan of cycling mainly due to the successes of Irishmen Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche in the pro peleton.

It was only at the age of 21 that I discovered triathlon via a university friend. I pursued triathlon through to 2001, where I was North American Age Group Champion and then raced at Elite Level. It was in 1999 that I discovered Stellenbosch, South Africa and met long-term friends and Specialized Athletes Conrad Stoltz and Christoph Sauser.

In 2001 my career took a swing after being offered the position of Sales and Sports Marketing Manager for Oakley in Ireland, which I held through to 2005. During this period I raced both mtb and road bikes. In 2004 I reignited my triathlon passion, returned to racing, won a national title and in 2005 left Oakley to focus solely on triathlon.

Once again my career took a spin, with Specialized offering me the position of team manager for their global factory MTB team in 2006. There have been so many memorable moments: 2006 with Susi and Liam Killeen 1-2 at Mont Sainte Anne, Susi’s World Title in 2009, however, most cherished for me has been the opportunity to work with so many great people first and foremost. A great athlete is awesome, but a humble attitude raises the bar for me.

In February 2009, I commenced with the position of Sports Marketing Manager for Mountain Bike and Triathlon at Specialized. The position is so challenging, so rewarding and exciting. Rock on ……!

Stats

Height 5' 4"
Born January 12th, 1968

Cool Facts

2nd overall tour of virginia
7th overall tour 1998
8th stage of best tour
stage of tour 2005 winner best year

Madrid World Cup and life in Ireland

June 3, 2009

After my visit to Morgan Hill I returned home to Ireland for a brief two days, before traveling to Madrid for the XC World Cup. I have always liked the Madrid course, simply because I believe it is definitely the most spectator friendly course, with the opportunity to see the action, if you are in the right place, about five to six times every lap.

Lene really impressed me, especially with her confidence off the line. It was so good to see Lene riding solo off the front of what is always a strong World Cup field. Lene’s 3rd place result show’s great consistency in what is surely a breakthrough year for the Norwegian who has been building gradually year on year.

The men’s race as always is fast in Madrid. Burry looked good in the early stages and I expected a good result, but later on you could see that the South African wasn’t firing on all 10 cyclinders! He did so well and rode so cleverly at the end to win the U23 and close points in the overall World Cup Rankings.

Todd must look back positively on his result, which saw him in the top 10 at one point on board his Specialized S Works HT 29er. Bearing in mind he started in 40th position on the grid, I am sure Todd will build on this.

Susi has had a tough start to the year. Things just haven’t knitted together as they normally would. He was carrying a very bad chest cold into this race, with flu like symptoms, but still managed to place 11th, which is commendable.

After Madrid I have been back in Ireland, spending time with family. The weather is fantastic, which is great given the unpredictability of the Irish Skies! I have been to many parts of the World, but Ireland on days like we have been experiencing is my number one place for road biking. My Specialized S Works Tarmac SL2 has been out on the Irish Roads daily.

While in Ireland I also watched TriAthy, a triathlon, which hosted a field of 2500 participants. Given that Ireland has just 4.2 million people, this represents a massive attendance for any sporting event. I had no itch to be in there in the thick of the action, but I really enjoyed watching!

Stats for Bobby Behan are coming soon.
All content © copyright 2013 Specialized Bicycle Components. All Rights reserved.