Federico Bahamontes

Federico Martín Bahamontes (born 9 July 1928) is a Spanish retired professional  cyclist. He was the first cyclist to win the "King of the Mountains"  competition for best climber in all three Grand Tours, the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.

Biography
Bahamontes was born in Santo Domingo-Caudilla, Toledo.

Bahamontes was a climbing specialist.  He won the Tour de France in 1959, and won the polka dot jersey for the best climber six times, in 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963 and 1964. In total, he won seven Tour stages. Reporters gave him the nickname the 'Eagle of Toledo'.

He was second in the 1957 Vuelta a España and won the mountains competition in 1957 and 1958. He won the mountains competition in the Giro d'Italia in 1956.

Bahamontes retired in 1965 to run a bicycle and motorcycle shop in Toledo.

In 2013 he was named the best climber in the history of the Tour de France by L' Équipe Magazine. Members of the jury included current riders, such as Thomas Voeckler, five-times winner of the race Bernard Hinault and the general director of the Tour de France Christian Prudhomme. The award was given by the French President François Hollande.

He is mentioned in the French film Le Fabuleux Déstin d'Amélie Poulain, known in English as Amelie. Amélie finds a box of toys left behind by an owner of her flat. She returns them to the owner and he is reminded of watching Bahamontes win the 1959 Tour de France.

Palmarès 

1950
 national amateur road championship
1952
Vuelta a Albacete
1953
Circuito Sardinero
1954
Nice-Mont Agel
Vuelta a España:
2nd overall
Tour de France:
Winner Mountains classification
1955
Clasica a los Puertos de Guadarrama
Monaco - Golf du Mont Agel
Mont Faron
Vuelta a Asturias
1956
Tour de France:
4th overall
Giro d'Italia:
Winner Mountains classification
Vuelta a España:
4th overall
1957
Mont Faron
Vuelta a España:
Winner Mountains classification
Winner stage 3
2nd overall
Vuelta Ciclista Asturias
1958
 national time trial champion
Giro d'Italia:
Winner stage 4
 National road race championship
Saint-Junien
Subida a Arrate
Tour de France:
Winner stages 14 and 20
Winner Mountains classification
8th place overall classification
Vuelta a España:
Winner Mountains classification
6th overall
1959
Subida a Arrate
Tour de France:
 Winner overall classification
Winner Mountains classification
Winner stage 15
Vuelta a España:
Winner stage 4
1960
Subida a Arrate
Vuelta a España:
Winner stage 13
1961
Cenon
Monaco - Golf du Mont Agel
Nice - Mont Agel
Riberac
Subida a Arrate
1962
GP de la Magdaleine
Juliénas
Mont-Faron
Subida a Arrate
Tour de France:
Winner stage 13
Winner Mountains classification
Ussel
1963
La Touloubre
Miramas (FRA)
Mont-Faron (b) (FRA)
Tour de France:
2nd overall
Winner stage 15
Winner Mountains classification
1964
Escalada a Montjuich
Six Days of Madrid (with Rik Van Steenbergen)
Mont-Faron
Subida al Naranco
Tour de France:
3rd overall
Winner stages 8 and 16
Winner Mountains classification
Ussel
1965
Escalada a Montjuïc
Tour du Sud-Est
Vuelta a España:
10th overall

References

Further reading
 Fotheringham, Alasdair (2013) The Eagle of Toledo: The Life and Times of Federico Bahamontes, the Tour's Greatest Climber , London, Aurum Press,

Other websites
Complete Palmarès 
Frederico Bahamontes at the Cycling Archives
Official Tour de France results for Federico Bahamontes

1928 births
Living people
Spanish cyclists
Tour de France winners
Tour de France cyclists