Cycling: Bahamontes, the first of the Spaniards
The first Spaniard to win the Tour de France in 1959, Federico Bahamontes, who died on Tuesday aged 95, embodied the archetype of the climber, to the extent that he earned the nickname of the "Eagle of Toledo", the city where he was known to all.
Until the end of his life, Bahamontes remained hugely popular in his homeland, where he was proud of his successes in the Tour de France. In ten participations between 1954 and 1965, the rival of Luxembourg's Charly Gaul won the GP mountain classification six times, and for a long time he was only concerned with this aspect of the race.
The Spaniard, born on 9 July 1928 in a village near Toledo, was most famous before his Tour victory for his unpredictable mood swings during the race.
In 1957, he abandoned the Grande Loop for no reason, without listening to either his team manager or race director Jacques Goddet. "That day, the eagle flew low, he had turned into an Asturian mule," wrote a malicious journalist.
Two years later, the Spanish champion won a race that should have been dominated by the French team with its four leaders (Jacques Anquetil, Louison Bobet, Raphaël Géminiani and Roger Rivière), but was undermined by rivalries.
The chariot
"Le Picador", his second nickname, had nevertheless earned his victory. He won the time trial at Puy-de-Dôme and, two days later, he led a sumptuous breakaway with the Gaul on the Col de Romeyère.
Back in his homeland, he became an idol, long before Luis Ocana, Pedro Delgado and Miguel Indurain, who succeeded him in the 20th century in the Tour palmarès and in the hearts of Spanish fans.
The former salesman of the small market in Toledo explained his extraordinary climbing skills with his first job: "To deliver to customers, I had a cart that I filled with 120 kilos of fruit and vegetables. I pushed it through the streets for four years. It was then that I developed the heart and body of a climber. On the climbs, I pushed with the tips of my toes as if I were on pedals.
Twice winner of the Vuelta (1954 and 1957), he remained at the top at the age of thirty and relaunched his career under the authority of his directeur sportif Raoul Rémy.
During the Anquetil years, "Fede" was on the podium twice more (2nd in 1963, 3rd in 1964) in the Tour, the race best suited to this rider who loved scorching temperatures.
Dalí's gift
Although he won eleven mountain stages in the three Grand Tours (7 in France, 1 in Italy and 3 in Spain), he was limited by his poor downhill skills at a time when summit finishes were less frequent.
"If he had been born 20 years later, he would have doubled his list of achievements," said Pierre Chany, the most important journalist of the time.
Bahamontes also went down in Tour history for crashing in 1954 while leading the race. Just after crossing the Col de Romeyère, he stopped to buy an ice cream from a street vendor and waited for his pursuers. "They asked me to win the GP de la montagne and that's what I'm doing," he replied to those who were surprised.
The man who started his sentences with "moi, il" when he wanted to express himself in French had retired to his good city of Toledo, where he had a bicycle shop. On the building, in the centre of town, ten letters were painted as a sign: BAHAMONTES.
Full of energy despite his age, the Spaniard, with a slender and agile figure, did not often get back on a bicycle after his retirement in 1965, but he maintained his passion for cycling, for a long time as the organiser of an amateur race, or even more often for tributes to this legend of the sport, full of anecdotes.
For example, Salvador Dalí gave him a picture of Bahamontes in full swing on his bicycle. The longest-serving winner of the Tour confessed his bewilderment: "As much as I look at the painting, I still don't recognise myself.