"Jenko" wrote in message
...
benjo maso wrote:

Spain hasn't been always a great cycling nation, as it is today. Before
1930 there have been only three spanish riders who had incidentally
participated to the Tour (Blanco in 1910, ...

All history books tell that Vicente Blanco "El Cojo" (The Crippled,
because he had one leg longer than the other) was the first spaniard to
ride the Tour. Not that he rode much, not at least officially. After
riding from Bilbao to Paris to take the start, he was so exhausted that he
couldn't make it to Roubaix the first day. But he really wasn't the first
spanish rider at the Tour. Jose Maria Javierre took the start in 1909, and
managed to finish 17th. Born in Jaca, his family had moved to France when
he was only a child, and he used a French version of his name (Habierre)
in his inscription. That explains he's always labeled as french, although
it was not until he fought in WWI that he got the nationality.

Interesting. I didn't know it.


... Janer in 1920, 21, 24 and Canardo in 1928 and 1929).

That was Carmona, 4th in 1929 and the first spanish stage winer. Cañardo
only rode the second half of 1928 as a replacement rider. There were other
unknown spanish riders as well those years (Otero, Manteca, ...)

I stand corrected.


In 1930 Desgrange invited a full-size Spanish team was invited, but
in 1931 it had been reduced to one rider (Cepeda). It took four more
years before there was again a complete spanish team. At that time in
Spain bicycle racing was clearly in the lift, but the Civil War was of
course an enormous set back. After 1939 cycling became extremely popular
and the star riders earned as much money as the famous matadors, but
because Spain as a cycling nation was almost completely in isolation, the
sport developed in a very peculiar way. Just as in Italy in the 1980's
the stars weren't so much trying to win (they were payed anyway) as
trying to make the their competitors lose and didn't hardly take any
risks. Most races ended in mass sprints, even mountain stages. The
climbers sprinted like madmen to arrive first a the top of the cols, but
after that usually waited for the pack (just like Bahamontes in the Tour
of '54).

The tradition of riding for the cols not for the win was started in the
30s by Trueba, first winner of the polka dot jersey (i guess it was not
polka dot back then). By the way, Bahamontes only stopped to have an
icecream at the summit of the Col de la Romeyère to wait for the repair
car. He had several broken peaks and couldn't use the brakes as a result.
Or at least this is what he claims.

Trueba didn't actually wait, but he was one of the worst descenders in the
history of cycling. In the course of times Bahamontes has told several
different versions of the incident on the top of the Romeyère. In 1954
(l'Equipe) he claimed he waited because he was afraid descending alone. By
the way, it's almost certain he never eat an ice cream on the top of the
Romeyère. First of all, the incident wasn't mentioned in the Equipe the day
after. What's more, there are many pictures of Bahamontes made during the
climb of the col. And yet nobody has ever seen a photo of him eating an
icecream. I can hardly imagine that the photographers thought it wasn't
worth the trouble, so IMO there can be only one explanation: the incident
did never happen. Initially Bahamontes denied he had eaten an ice cream.
Later he confirmed it and the last time I've seen him interviewed he said
that he did accept an ice cream from one of the spectators, but instead of
eating it, he put it in his drinking bottle. But again, there are no
pictures of it.

Benjo Maso