'El Águila de Toledo' Federico Martín Bahamontes, the first Spaniard to win a Tour de France, dies

TOLEDO, XX (EUROPA PRESS)

The Toledo Federico Martín Bahamontes has died this Tuesday at the age of 95, as confirmed by the mayor of Toledo, Carlos Velázquez, on his social networks, according to Europa Press.

Nicknamed 'El Águila de Toledo', he was one of the seven Spanish cyclists who have managed to win the yellow jersey of the Tour de France throughout the history of the French competition.

Bahamontes was the first Spanish cyclist to get the yellow jersey in an edition, that of 1959, in which, in addition, he won the Mountain Grand Prix six times.

In 1963 he classified second and was third in 1964. The mountains were his terrain and escapades, his hallmark. So much so that he was eight days in a row in all the breaks and they gave him the prize for combativeness.

In May 2018, the city of Toledo paid tribute to its most acclaimed cyclist in an act that included Miguel Indurain, Carlos Sastre, Óscar Pereiro and Pedro Delgado, all winners of the Tour de France.

Bahamontes went up from the Paseo de la Vega to the Miradero in a convertible car in order to recall the same journey he took after winning the Tour de France in 1959.

The tour ended at the Miradero, where the sculpture that Javier Molina Gil sculpted for the occasion was discovered and represents the cyclist climbing in a position of maximum effort.

In the tribute, the former cyclist from Toledo was grateful but criticized the lateness of this tribute. "How long it took us to be here. Longer than when he made me a boyfriend with Fermina", he joked.