Miguel Induráin

At 60 years old, Miguel Induráin has this physical status:

In 1984 he rode in the Olympic Games at Los Angeles and then turned professional on 4 September for Reynolds. He won his first professional race a week later, a time trial in the Tour de l'Avenir. In 1985 he started the Vuelta a España and came second in the prologue, behind Bert Oosterbosch. Oosterbosch lost time on the second stage and Induráin became leader, the youngest rider to do so. He rode the Tour de France later that year, as he would do in each of the next 11 years, but dropped out in the fourth stage.

In 1986, Induráin again rode the Tour, dropping out on the 12th stage. He started the 1987 Vuelta a España with bronchitis from the Tour of Belgium. He rode the 1988 Tour de France as teammate of the winner Pedro Delgado. In 1989, he escaped during the ninth stage of the Tour de France. He won the stage and became leader of the mountains classification, wearing the polkadot jersey the next stage, the only time in his career. In 1990, Induráin rode the Tour de France again for Delgado, but Delgado could not win. Induráin finished 10th place, sacrificing several places by waiting for Delgado.

Induráin was a strong time trialist, gaining on rivals and riding defensively in the climbing stages. Induráin won only two Tour stages that were not individual time trials: mountain stages to Cauterets (1989) and Luz Ardiden (1990) in the Pyrenees. During his five consecutive Tour de France wins he never won a stage that was not a time trial. These superior abilities in the discipline fit perfectly with the TT heavy Tours of the era, with many featuring between 150 and 200 km of time trialling vs the more common 50–80 km today.

In 1991, Greg LeMond was favourite for the Tour and while Induráin was a fine time trialist he was considered too large to be a good climber. LeMond led the race until the 12th stage but on the 13th he broke down on the Tourmalet, and lost more than seven minutes to Induráin, who became the leader and stayed leader to the end.

Induráin won the prologue at San Sebastián and seized the yellow jersey, only to lose it the next day. Induráin finished the time trial in stage nine, over 65 km, three minutes ahead of number two on the stage. Near the end he caught Laurent Fignon, who had started six minutes before him. The 1992 Tour was remarkable for a long breakaway by Claudio Chiappucci on a stage to Sestriere that included six mountains. Induráin seemed to crack on the final climb to Sestriere being passed by Franco Vona but managed to finish third, enough to claim the yellow jersey once more. From here Induráin would establish his racing style "crush rivals in the time trials and control them in the mountains" His defensive tactic brought criticism from Induráin's boyhood hero, Bernard Hinault, who said: "Induráin is the best rider of his generation but he has won this Tour quietly, without great opposition. If the opposition continues to let him get away with it, his reign looks like lasting a long time".

He also won the Giro d'Italia in 1992. After winning the early time trial, Induráin gained a decisive advantage on stage 9 to Latina-Terminillo. There, on the first summit finish of the race, Induráin finished in the first group, dropping the main contenders, and gaining 30 seconds on Chiappucci. On his way to overall victory by 5mins 12secs over Chiappucci, Induráin also won the final stage 21 time trial.

Induráin rode the same way in the 1993 Tour. He won the prologue at Puy-du-Fou, in the Vendée region, and waited until the ninth stage, the 59 km time trial at Lac de Madine, to take control of the race. He won by 2m 11s. From then on, said Ollivier, he rode defensively, watching Tony Rominger, whom he considered a rival against the clock. Ollivier said Induráin's ride wasn't without effort but another historian, Pierre Chany, said it lacked audacity and that Induráin never "did anything unprovoked which would have allowed this exceptional rider to rise above the rest and excite the crowd".

He won the 1993 Giro d'Italia.

Induráin again won the first time trial, the ninth stage from Périgueux to Bergerac, in the southwest. He beat Rominger by two minutes. He did, however, attack in the Pyrenees, accelerating at the foot of the 10 km climb to the ski station at Hautacam. Luc Leblanc, Richard Virenque, Marco Pantani and Armand de Las Cuevas stayed with him but other rivals, including Rominger, were left behind. Induráin lost the stage to Leblanc but kept the yellow jersey to the end.

In 1994 he set a world hour record of 53.040 kilometres (32.958 mi), beating Graeme Obree.

Induráin entered the Giro again, but this time was beaten by Evgeni Berzin and Marco Pantani, who had prepared solely for the Giro.

In May 1994, Induráin tested positive for salbutamol following the Tour de L'Oise in France. Though the β2-adrenergic agonist, found in nasal inhalers, was on the controlled substances list of both the IOC and UCI, both organizations permitted sportsmen with asthma to use it. However, in France there was an outright ban on its use. The IOC agreed with the UCI that Induráin would not be punished for using a drug banned outright in France because they accepted the salbutamol was contained in a nasal inhaler he had been using legitimately to aid his respiration. In Spain, the incident was interpreted as another case of the French attempting to hinder Induráin's domination of the sport.

He also won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in 1995.

The seventh stage of the 1995 Tour linked Charleroi and Liège, both in southern Belgium. It took in the rolling roads of Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Induráin attacked with Johan Bruyneel following and the rest were left 50 seconds behind. The following day Induráin won the first time trial, organised on a demanding circuit at Seraing. Jean-Paul Ollivier wrote: "It offered him another chance to assert his authority. Who could challenge him? The hierarchy established itself by itself. Induráin once again set off on a demonstration Tour. This last victory by the rider from Navarra was a model of strength, intelligence and authority, all well controlled. There wasn't an tactical error, never a scare, no moments of weakness".

Induráin won the world time trial championship.

He also won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in 1996.

Induráin aimed for a sixth victory in the 1996 Tour, but suffered from the beginning. He came seventh in the prologue. After bronchitis in a cold and wet first week, he lost time from stage seven. He said that, on the Cormet de Roselend on 6 July, "my legs started to feel odd but, because the speed of the group wasn't very high, I didn't take much notice. I even imagined attacking at the foot of the Arcs climbs." He dropped out of the group and lost three minutes in three kilometres. Race referees penalised him 20 seconds for accepting a bottle of drink in the last kilometre. He said the 20 seconds were nothing compared to the minute he would have lost had he not taken the bottle. He later said he would stop racing. The Dane Bjarne Riis won and his teammate Jan Ullrich finished second. Induráin finished 11th and, in a stage passing through his hometown and ending in Pamplona, he finished 19th, eight minutes behind the stage winner.

He won the individual time trial in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, where professionals competed for the first time. He won the title ahead of compatriot Abraham Olano and Boardman. Asked if he would trade his gold medal for a sixth Tour victory, he confirmed, saying: "For any professional cyclist, winning the Tour is the pinnacle of their career, whereas winning the Olympic title is purely symbolic". In the road race, he finished 26th.

In September 1996, Induráin rode the Vuelta a España at the insistence of his team. He dropped out unexpectedly on the Mirador del Fito, 30 km (19 mi) from the end of the stage to Covadonga. Relations with his team manager, José Miguel Echavarri, had been difficult since an aborted attempt on the hour record in Colombia in October 1995. The two are no longer on speaking terms.

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