Federico Bahamontes has died at the age of 95. He became the first Spanish winner of the Tour de France in 1959, but his renown and impact could not be confined to one country or limited to one line of his palmarès. His extravagant gifts as a climber made sure of that.
Born in Toledo in 1928, the young Bahamontes first began cycling as a means of transporting black market goods in a country ravaged by the Civil War and the Francoist regime. In 1947, he was encouraged to compete in his first bike race, placing second after reportedly eating only a banana and a lemon for sustenance.
