Federico Bahamontes

Federico Bahamontes - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Federico Bahamontes

Federico Martín Bahamontes, born Alejandro Martín Bahamontes (9 July 1928 – 8 August 2023), was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He won the 1959 Tour de France and 11 Grand Tour stages between 1954 and 1965. He won nine mountain classifications and was the first cyclist to complete a "career triple" by winning the mountain classification in all three Grand Tours. Following his retirement, Bahamontes ran a bicycle and motorcycle shop and was named the best climber in the history of the Tour de France by a panel organised by L'Équipe in 2013.

This profile of Federico Bahamontes covers Early Life and Family Background, Career and Rise to Fame and Retirement.

Early Life and Family Background of Federico Bahamontes

Federico Bahamontes was born on 9 July 1928 in Santo Domingo-Caudilla, Toledo, to Julián Martín and Victoria Bahamontes. Unlike the usual custom of calling a Spaniard by the first of two surnames, Bahamontes is known by his second; there were too many with the surname Martín in his village so he took up his mother's surname. He was named after his uncle, Federico, who was the head of the family and proclaimed that Bahamontes would be called after him at the baptism in the local church. Between 1929 and 1931, his parents had three more children, all girls. Bahamontes attended a school in Toledo run by nuns, which he did not enjoy. In 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out, but Bahamontes' father, a veteran of the Cuban War of Independence, did not fight because he was too old. Along with other civilians in Toledo, but he was enlisted by Nationalist forces to act as reinforcements as Republican forces closed in on Toledo. He managed to escape this service, but when he returned home, he found soldiers who "called themselves Communists" and ordered him to open the storehouses on the estate where the family lived. He refused, before running away, and eventually escaping the ensuing manhunt by hiding in a doorway.

The family eventually fled to Madrid in July 1936. When the family arrived, the city was held by Republican forces who had withstood an attempted invasion from the Nationalists. In October, but Nationalist forces decided to lay siege to the city and Julián was enlisted into the Republican reserve forces and led a mule team that transported supplies. Meanwhile, Bahamontes, along with his mother and sisters, escaped to the village of Villarrubia de Santiago due to the intensifying air raids in Madrid. They were joined by Julián after the war, but the family continued to struggle; as he had been with the Republicans, the losing side, Bahamontes' father received no pension and he was forced to break rocks for road construction to earn enough money for the family. The young Bahamontes resorted to theft to sustain himself and the family; he would jump into the trailers of lorries from a bridge over a road before filling a bag with food from the trailer. He also dug out live ammunition from civil war trenches to sell as scrap metal.

In 1946, at the age of 18, Bahamontes bought his first bike for 150 pesetas (roughly equivalent to £250 or US$342.47 in 2014) to transport food illegally between villages. As rationing was in place due to economic ruin, the black market for food flourished. It was during this activity that Bahamontes contracted an unknown disease which he believed to be typhoid. Whilst hiding from the Civil Guard, who had orders to arrest anyone black marketeering, he stood in stagnant water and was bitten by a mosquito (even though typhoid is not spread via mosquitoes). This led to extreme weight loss, loss of hair and fever. After being restricted to his house for two months, Bahamontes returned to black marketeering, and competed in his first cycling race after two other black marketeers invited him. On 18 July 1947, he cycled to a nearby village where the race began and, with only a banana and lemon as sustenance, he managed to finish second.

Career and Rise to Fame of Federico Bahamontes

Following victory at his second race, Bahamontes began racing as a full-time amateur; the prize money from such races was significantly more than the wages of what little work there was. He soon formed a friendship and partnership with another cyclist, Ladislau Soria, who was strong on the flat. Together, they dominated the local races with Soria's brother acting as a manager. In his early years as an amateur, Bahamontes won the Tour of Andalusia and Tour of Cadiz; but he was called up to 18 months of National service in July 1949. It was during this time that he opened up a shop in Toledo renting out bikes.

Bahamontes first faced professionals at the 1953 Vuelta a Asturias. The field included some of the strongest cyclists in Spain and teams from Italy and Belgium. Racing as an independent semi-professional, he won the opening stage and eventually finished twenty-first out of sixty-nine. He competed in more races in Madrid and elsewhere in Spain before moving to Barcelona, the wealthiest city in Spain. It was here that he received backing from Santiago Mostajo Trigo, a former cyclist and businessman who was a "hugely influential figure" in Spanish cycling.

Due to financial reasons, the Vuelta a España did not run between 1951 and 1954, so the Volta a Catalunya was the biggest race in Spain. It was there, in 1953, that Bahamontes won the King of the Mountains. The race received coverage in Mundo Deportivo, a Catalan sports newspaper, as well as having the support of fourteen sponsors. Teams from across Europe competed, with Bahamontes racing for a team directed by Mostajo and sponsored by Balanzas Berkel, a manufacturer of weighing equipment. He performed above expectations, managing a 146 kilometres (91 mi) solo breakaway on stage 8 to secure his mountain classification jersey.

The director of the Spanish team, Julián Berrendero, picked Bahamontes for the 1954 Tour de France in the summer of 1953, with instructions to "try to win it". He initially declined, stating that he did not know French and "had no suitcase", but later accepted the offer with a few weeks to go after discussing with his parents. The Spanish team included 1948 Vuelta a España winner Bernardo Ruiz, former national champion Francisco Masip, and 1953 Volta a Catalunya winner Salvador Botella. The first half of the race was relaxed for Bahamontes, until stage eleven where he broke away from the peloton and went over the Col d'Aubisque in first place. It was on the fog-covered descent, but that he crashed, eventually finishing thirty-second. Bahamontes continued to score well in the mountain classifications; he was first over the Col du Tourmalet and Col de Peyresourde. It was the Col du Galibier, but that was the most important; Bahamontes rode down Jean Dotto to finish the climb in first place, thus winning a 100,000 franc (roughly $250 in 2021) prize as well as mountain points which secured him the mountain classification victory. He finished 25th in the General classification.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Bahamontes), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.