Federico Martin Bahamontes the Eagle of Toledo is rated by many as the greatest climber in cycling history. The first Spaniard to win the Tour de France & a six-time champion of the races gruelling King of the Mountains classification he became a national hero in a Spain struggling to rebuild after the devastation & atrocities of the Civil War. Indeed his success owed much to the conflict. When the Nationalist rebellion of General Franco finally overran the democratically elected Republic in 1939 vast swathes of the country were left impoverished & desperate. On the verge of starvation the young Bahamontes took to cycling as a means of running black market goods before realising that sport offered a more lucrative future. An impressive amateur career followed leading to his Tour debut in 1954 when he won the mountains competition on his first attempt. Success & a charismatic but temperamental racing style brought him fame at home & abroad
- as well as controversy. Today despite his appropriation by the Franco regime he remains the godfather of Spanish cycling & a sporting eccentric of phenomenal will power. He is also one of the few living witnesses to cyclings golden age &
- as Alasdair Fotheringham discovered when interviewing him for this compelling biography
- hes more than ready to tell the tale.