Spain's sporting heroes - Miguel Indurain
Miguel Indurain is undoubtedly Spain's greatest cyclist and one of the country's top sporting heroes. Born in Villava, Navarre in 1964, Indurain's greatest achievements came in the world's greatest cycle race, the Tour de France. Between 1991 and 1995 Indurain reigned supreme in the tour taking five victories in a row in becoming the first man to achieve this remarkable feat.
Indurain turned pro in 1985 and entered the Tour de France starting a run of eleven straight years entering cycling's prestige event. Although he didn't finish the 1985 and 86 tours, he established himself as an excellent team rider for the Banesto and played a big part in the 1988 win of Spanish compatriot Pedro Delgado. In fact many claimed that Indurain could have bettered his 10th place finish in 1990 or even gone on to win, but Indurain refused to eclipse his team captain Delgado. The break through finally came in 1991 when Banesto built the team around Indurain as he started his dominance of the tour, over the next few years it became an extremely familiar site to see Indurain in the coveted yellow jersey. As a cyclist Indurain did most of his damage during time trials, his powerful 6ft 2 frame earned him the nickname "Big Mig" and often left his competitors without an answer. Famously on a stage in Luxembourg in 1994, he won a time trial by a massive three minutes, powerful riding like this would give Idurain the advantage he needed over his rivals. Indurain would then ride defensively in the mountain stages, relying on his strong team to cover any threatening breaks. Critics lambasted this style as "boring" but lovers of the sport also remember some great duels with Greg Lamond in 1991 and also with the late, great Italian, Marco Pantani whose prowess in the mountain stages was second to none.
As mentioned earlier in the article, Indurain was a supreme natural athlete; his resting heart beat was 28 bpm, less than half the normal rate of an average, healthy human. Scientists hypothesized that
Indurain's heart was up to 50% larger than a normal person and his huge lungs were capable of scooping up a massive eight litres of air. This freakish physical attributes led many rivals and admirers to claim there was some "inhuman" element to Indurain, further added to by his quiet nature and seemingly unshakable composure on the bike.
Away from the Tour de France, Indurain also has a big list of honours; he twice won the "Giro d'Italia" in 1992 and 93 (both years that he won the Tour as well), in 1994 he set the world hour record covering just over 53.010 km (32.96 miles) in the 60 minutes and at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 he picked up a gold medal for his country in the individual time trial event.
Liked and respected by his fellow pros, Indurain was a humble and unassuming gentleman who never boasted of his greatness even when people tried to compare him to the great Tour winners of the past. English cyclist and time trial expert Chris Boardman famously said of Indurain: "Indurain makes me sick because he's actually a really nice guy. You can't actually work yourself up, there's no hate involved, no anger. He's a really nice bloke and a true champion."
In his retirement Idurain has still kept an active role within cycling as a member of the UCI Professional Cycling Council and he's also on Spain's Olympic Committee. Despite his tour record being eclipsed by American Lance Armstrong's seven in a row in recent years, Indurain's legacy as one of cycling's greats will live on, not only in the heart's of Spaniards, but of sports fans the world over.
About the Author
Mike McDougall has five years experience working as a travel writer and marketeer. He is currenlty working to provide additional content for Babylon-idiomas, a Spanish language school with an excellent presence in Spain and Latin America.
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