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The Eagle of Toledo: The Life and Times of Federico Bahamontes, the Tour's Greatest Climber by Fotheringham, Alasdair is a book available to read on EtoBox.

What is The Eagle of Toledo: The Life and Times of Federico Bahamontes, the Tour's Greatest Climber about?

Federico Martin Bahamontes, the Eagle of Toledo, is rated by many as the greatest climber in cycling history. The first Spaniard to win the Tour de France and a six-time champion of the race's gruelling King of the Mountains classification, he became a national hero in a Spain struggling to rebuild after the devastation and atrocities of the Civil War. Indeed, his success owed much to the conflict. When the Nationalist rebellion of General Franco finally overran the democratically elected Republic in 1939, vast swathes of the country were left impoverished and desperate. On the verge of starvation, the young Bahamontes took to cycling as a means of running black market goods, before realising that sport offered a more lucrative future. An impressive amateur career followed, leading to his Tour debut in 1954, when he won the mountains competition on his first attempt. Success and a charismatic, but temperamental, racing style brought him fame at home and abroad - as well as controversy. Today, despite his appropriation by the Franco regime, he remains the godfather of Spanish cycling and a sporting eccentric of phenomenal will power. He is also one of the few living witnesses to cyc

Author

Fotheringham, Alasdair

Publisher

Aurum Press Ltd : [distributor] Littlehampton Book Services Ltd : [distributor] NewSouth Books : [distributor] NewSouth Books : [distributor] Trinity Books CC : [distributor] Aurum Press Ltd

Published

2014

Language

EN

ISBN

9781781310496

Subjects

Anthropology, Memoir, Biography