Julio Jiménez, the 'Watchmaker of Ávila', climbed Tours and Vueltas until he became a legend

He won stages in Tour, Vuelta and Giro and was the best in the mountains in three Tours and three Vueltas

MADRID, 8 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The cyclist Julio Jiménez, known as the 'Watchmaker of Ávila', has died at the age of 87 in a traffic accident that leaves Spanish cycling without one of its legends, as he was a stage winner in the three 'Big' - -Tour, Vuelta y Giro-- and king of the mountain in the gala round and the Spanish round, as well as Spanish road champion.

The 'Watchmaker of Ávila' went out but he leaves great victories in the memory, with a record of 23 wins as a professional in a golden age of cycling in which he was a contemporary and rival of Federico Martín Bahamontes, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx or Raymond Poulidor , grandfather of Mathieu van der Poel.

He was, without a doubt, one of the best cyclists in the international peloton of the 1960s. His track record includes 5 stages in the Tour de France, 4 in the Giro d'Italia and 3 in the Vuelta a España, as well as being 'king of the mountain' of the Tour in 1965, 1966 and 1967 and another three times best climber of La Vuelta ('63, '64 and '65).

He earned the nickname 'The Watchmaker of Ávila' by working in a family watch shop with his cousin, but he soon saw that his career would be on a bicycle and not in the fight against the clock, but in the mountains. He was a complete cyclist, yes, and was second overall in the 1967 Tour de France, with 3:40 minutes lost to the champion, Frenchman Roger Pingeon.

In fact, the City Council of Ávila --his hometown-- decided to change the name of a street that bore the name of former mayor Antonio Sánchez to Cuesta Julio Jiménez, which is currently sloping and cobbled. It was in 1967 after that runner-up and mountain jersey in the French round.

He also won two stages of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, a stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, was the best in the Ascent to Arrate in 1965 and was fifth in the Vuelta a España in 1964 and seventh in the Tour de France in 1964, same year in which he was proclaimed champion of Spain on the road.

His first professional victory was in the fifth stage of the Volta a Catalunya in 1960, in Puigcerdà. And, the last one, in the eighteenth stage of the Giro d'Italia in 1968, at the Abbadia San Salvatore. In between, another 21 more wins in addition to those jerseys for the best climber of the Tour and Vuelta, in his ideal terrain.

In his career, which began in 1960 with the Lambretta-Mostajo and Catigene teams, he also went through Faema-Flandria, the historic Spanish team Kas (1964 and 1965), Ford in 1966 and the recently created French team Bic ( 1967 and 1968), where he could shine the most, before retiring in 1969 in the ranks of the Italian Eliolona.