(Photo Credit: @capovelo.com)
On 11 May the Giro meets the Apennines with a stage that will take riders to Sestola. Half a century ago, Sestola brought José Manuel Fuente, one of the greatest climbers in the history of cycling, to the attention of the world once again.
Fuente was a professional for only 6 years from 1970 to 1976 and he was nicknamed, “El Tarangu”, like his father and grandfather. Among his main successes, the Vuelta a España, won twice in 1972 and 1974, the Tour de Suisse in 1973 and 14 Grand Tours stages, 2 at Tour de France, 9 at Giro d’Italia and 2 at the Vuelta a España.
Fuente retired in 1975, due to kidney disease and after a long battle with his health problem, died in Oviedo at the age of 50.
CyclingDigest has selected a few articles to give you an insight of cycling during that period and to celebrate the great climber José Manuel Fuente.
(All pictures and articles, copyright @ by the author, we use, are for editorial and non-commercial usages only)
On Peloton.com a beautiful memory of the Spanish climber: By Peter Cossins | Images from the Horton Collection JOSÉ MANUEL FUENTE: THE GREATEST CLIMBER IN RACING HISTORY?
The most comprehensive and truly impressive set of info and bibliography of “El Tarangu” José Manuel Fuente is available in 🇪🇸 on jmfuente.es
And finally, the rather shocking Fuente confession on doping procedures during that period in the General Franco’s Spain. 🇪🇸 El Pais 🇮🇹 la Repubblica
(All pictures and articles, copyright @ by the author, we use, are for editorial and non-commercial usages only)