Roman Petrescu

Roman 'The Minuteman' Petrescu

Life has a funny way of working out. Roman never planned to be a professional cyclist. Being the son of a mechanic, he knew how to work hard and be humble in life. His family was poor, and Roman helped them in the shop whenever he didn't have any school. Even though Roman loved cycling, he was fine with repairing them, like his old man, for the rest of his life.

'The first racing bike I ever rode was one made out of spare parts from the shop.' Roman told us. 'We could not afford Zyte, but I managed to make it go round, fast.' And going round it did. At the age of 23, Roman Petrescu signed his first professional contract at Vagabundos. 'I remember my mother crying when I came home with my new jersey.' Roman said, with a big smile on his face.

It would not take long to convince his team that he was an extraordinary talent, with the capabilit...

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[flag]Romania[/flag]Roman 'The Minuteman' Petrescu

Life has a funny way of working out. Roman never planned to be a professional cyclist. Being the son of a mechanic, he knew how to work hard and be humble in life. His family was poor, and Roman helped them in the shop whenever he didn't have any school. Even though Roman loved cycling, he was fine with repairing them, like his old man, for the rest of his life.

'The first racing bike I ever rode was one made out of spare parts from the shop.' Roman told us. 'We could not afford Zyte, but I managed to make it go round, fast.' And going round it did. At the age of 23, Roman Petrescu signed his first professional contract at [team]Vagabundos[/team]. 'I remember my mother crying when I came home with my new jersey.' Roman said, with a big smile on his face.

It would not take long to convince his team that he was an extraordinary talent, with the capability of climbing and racing against the clock. They decided to cash in and Petrescu was showcased on the global market. Despite an asking price of 40.000, manager Roprop from [team]Twente Cycling Team[/team] decided to go all out and for 60.000 OCM$ Roman Petrescu was off to the Netherlands.

'I learned from the best.' Roman explained: 'To ride with [rider]515335[/rider] was very special. He was the only tour winner ever for Twente Cycling and taught me everything I needed to know to someday, repeat this myself.'

2 seasons in, Roman Petrescu celebrated his first win in Iceland, in [race]Akureyri[/race]. He would go on to his first tour one week later. In [tour]Fast on Wheels[/tour], Petrescu won the individual time trial, only to lose the tour on just 2 seconds. Shit happens, but Roman Petrescu showed his talent in tours for the years to come.

In the following years, Petrescu would become mister Minuteman. Ironically though, many critics would refer to Petrescu as the 'Secondsman'. In his first tries at [tour]Race of the Minuteman[/tour], Petrescu would finish 4th,2nd and 2nd at 24, 46 and 5 seconds respectively. Never the number one, always a few seconds to slow.

In season 28, Petrescu would finally get his beloved win. In a dominant outing, Petrescu would win 3 stages and the Stars and Stripes jersey from 'his tour'. Shortly after that, the Romanian cycling federation send him another jersey: Roman Petrescu was now the national champion. Life was good, and a Twente Cycling Legend has been born.

After this, Petrescu would grow old and with new talents standing up, he offered his service and experience in favour of the team he grew to love so deeply. 'I can look back on a good career in the Netherlands. I have a wonderful wife here and will always be around cycling.' Roman concluded. With his retirement looming, Twente Cycling Team will have to find a new building block to help them perform.

Roman Petrescu finishes his career with 11 wins, 14 results, a national championship and a RotM jersey.