The Eagle of Toledo: The Life and Times of Federico Bahamontes - Hardcover

Fotheringham, Alasdair

3.78

60 ratings by Goodreads

9781845137007: The Eagle of Toledo: The Life and Times of Federico Bahamontes

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845137000 ISBN 13: 9781845137007

Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd, 2012

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Federico Mart�n Bahamontes, the Eagle of Toledo, is rated by many as the greatest climber in cycling s 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 atrocities and divisions of the Civil War. Born in Toledo in 1928, Bahamontes saw his family devastated and forced to flee to Madrid when Nationalist rebels rose up against the elected government in 1936. Impoverished and starving, he took to cycling as a means of delivering black market produce, before realising that sport offered an escape from the streets. After an impressive amateur career, he made his Tour de France debut in 1954 and won the mountains competition on his first attempt. His success, and a charismatic but temperamental racing style, brought him fame at home and abroad. But it was also appropriated by the dictatorial regime of General Franco. Fifty years on, however, he remains a Spanish cycling hero. An eccentric of phenomenal willpower, he is one of the few key personalities from Spain s lost generations to remain alive and as Alasdair Fotheringham discovered when interviewing him for this fascinating biography more than willing to tell the tale.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

an unremittingly entertaining read (Birmingham Post )

Alasdair Fotheringham's captivating books tells the tale of how Bahamontes made his way to the to the top of the cycling pantheon and offers several reasons why 'The Eagle of Toledo' was not able to make more of his considerable talents on two wheels. --Nottingham Post

(This) book deserves a wider readership than I suspect it will get in this avalanch of summer cycle reading. Do seek it out. --Ian Cleverly Rouleur Magazine

Splendid ... Fotheringham s got the real story behind the myth --Cycle Sport, Christmas Reading List

About the Author:

Alasdair Fotheringham is a freelance journalist based in Spain. He has covered seventeen Tours de France and fifteen Tours of Spain, as well as numerous other major races. He first interviewed Bahamontes in 1993. Currently the cycling correspondent for the Independent, and the Spanish correspondent for the Independent on Sunday, he has also written for leading British cycling publications Cycling Weekly and Cycle Sport.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.