Miguel Indurain, 25 years later

This is a collection of Indurain's career's photos Today we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the birth of a new cycling star: Miguel Indurain Larraya. He was born in Villava, Navarra on 16th July 1964 and a day like today he won the Tour of the Future ( Tour del Porvenir ), which is considered the most important stage cycling race for young cyclists. Cyclists like Iñaki Gaston, Carlos Hernández, Eduardo Gonzalez Salvador, Guillermo Arenas, Alvaro Fernandez and Hernandez Ubeda were mates at that winner team. At that time nobody expected that that tall crampy cyclist would become a five-Tour winner, two Giro-winner, Olympic Gold medalist, World Champion,.. and the idol of many people in Navarra. He was 20 when he won that tour. I was 15 and studying at the institute and started cycling with my friend Jose Ramon, who was also a young cyclist at the Villaves Cycling Club ( Club Ciclista Villavés ) , and I can say that these men are special when they are on the bike, as you have to learn to suffer and recover from the worst moment of their lives. I think that José Miguel Echeverria, Eusebio Unzue and Francis Lafarge deserve our admiration as they foresaw a future winner when other people thought that Miguel Indurain should change his hobby, cycling, for basketball or athletics as he was very tall and well-built. Indurain was considered a very heavy-weight man for a mountain stage at the Tour, but his lungs and heart made a powerful motor for his legs. Reynolds was that Navarrian cycling team, as a famous sport radio speaker, Jose Maria Garcia, used to say when an old Arroyo and those young Julian Gorospe and mature Perico Delgado were the stars and we gathered around Paseo Sarasate at the stands of Caritas ( La Tombola ) to get an autograph of our idols. I got the signatures of all the cyclists of that previous year in 1985, after Delgado's victory in La Vuelta, and one which I keep is Miguel Indurain's. Before he became famous, Miguel Indurain thought that his future was in his parents' farm and to become a farmer. But his effort and the confidence of other people on him made us enjoy cycling in the 90's. He had to leave his studies of mechanics to dedicate his efforts to cycling. Most cyclist don't have a very brilliant career and they always regret leaving their studies at university or post-obligatory. Therefore, they usually recommend children to study hard at schools. They are very good expert on what effort means!!! Later, in the summer of 1991 Miguel Indurain will show how his effort came true and got his first Tour, but that is another story I will tell you one day!! Thanks Miguel, SIR MIGUEL INDURAIN ( as he would have been awarded if he had been born in England, sure! ) .