Franz Stocher

Austrian track cyclist Franz Stocher became a five-time Olympian from 1988 at Seoul to 2004 at Athens and was the first Austrian cyclist to achieve this feat. In 2000, Stocher had his best Olympic result with a sixth place in the points race. In 1992 he came ninth, was 12th in 1996, and 17th in 2004. With the Austrian team pursuit over 4,000 metres in 1988 they were eliminated in the qualification round in 16th place. With Roland Garber, Stocher placed eighth in the madison in 2004.

Stocher enjoyed his greatest moment in 2003 by winning the World Championship points race. This came after two bronze medals in 2000 and 2001, and a silver in 1992. In 2001, Stocher also won another bronze medal in the omnium at the European Championships.

Stocher won 12 national titles and was elected Austrian Cyclist of the Year In 2001 and 2003. He was later employed by the Lower Austrian provincial government for cycling matters and the integration of tourism and sport. Additionally, he was a member of the Austrian TV (ORF) audience council, representing the area of “Sport”. Since 2013, he worked as managing director at the Lower Austria Sports Centre in St. Pölten.