Miguel Indurain
Miguel Indurain (also: Induráin ) Larraya (* July 16, 1964 in Villava - Atarrabia, Navarre ) is a former Spanish cyclist and a member of the Basque people group. It counts with five victories in the Tour de France, two victories at the Giro d' Italia, the one Olympic gold medal and a World Championship in the time trial and an hour record of the most successful cyclists of the history of cycling.
Indurain's special strength lay in the time trial, but he was also on the mountain great performance.
Racing career
Indurain's professional career began in 1985, after he had unsuccessfully participated in the Peace Race and the 1984 Summer Olympics in the individual road race of the year. His team was the Spanish Reynolds team. In 1985 he took part in the Tour de France for the first time. In this phase of his career was Indurain team driver who was doing a helper for his team captain Pedro Delgado. When he won the 1988 Tour de France, Indurain had played a big part: An decisive climbs he did the lead work for Delgado and had to skip their own chances of stage wins. At the Tour de France 1990 Indurain was already significantly better than Delgado, but held to the internal hierarchy of the team.
As of 1991, Indurain was at his team, which is now called Banesto after a change of sponsor after the eponymous Spanish bank, the sole rider for the general classification. Indurain won from 1991 to 1995 five consecutive Tour de France; He was thus the fourth rider to win five times; the first to have managed without interruption. In the years 1992 and 1993, Indurain won beyond even the Giro d' Italia. These victories even more victories came in shorter tours: two Paris-Nice, Tour of Catalonia three times and twice Dauphine Libere, also a victory in the World Cup race Clasica San Sebastian. Overall, Indurain won 65 victories as a professional cyclist, including twelve stages in the Tour de France and four in the Giro d'Italia.
The Road World Championships 1995 Indurain won the individual time trial and finished second in the road race behind his compatriot Abraham Olano. At the Olympic Games in Atlanta, he won - also in the individual time trial - the gold medal.
1994 Indurain tested positive for salbutamol in the Tour de L' Oise. The two organizations IOC and UCI allow athletes with asthma the means to use as a spray. The University Hospital of Navarra confirmed the prescription. The French lacked the Exemption in advance. The dispute was settled, Indurain relieved. In 1996, Indurain finished his career at the age of 32 years. Previously, he had failed while attempting the Tour de France to win a sixth consecutive time. In the victory of the Dane Bjarne Riis, Indurain was only eleventh in the overall standings after he had contracted a severe cold in the particularly cold and wet weather the first week. With a longer mountain stage, which led through the calculations of Indurain's birth, he lost eight minutes on the day's winner. After his Olympic victory, which he won in the national jersey, Indurain still occurred in the fall of 1996 under pressure from the team sponsor at the Vuelta a España, which he did not like and had not been provided for in its season planning. Indurain, who complained that his legs " like wood " anfühlten, and complained of shortness of breath, the tour broke off and ended his career.
His most important victories
Hour record
In 1994, Indurain with 53.040 kilometers, a new world hour record, but was canceled as all posted 1984-1996 hour world records by the UCI.
Honors
In 1992, Miguel Indurain the Prince of Asturias Prize, and was awarded for his fifth victory in the Tour de France in Lausanne with the Olympic Order. He is member of the Spanish Olympic Committee and the UCI Committee on professional cycling. To this end, he is the honorary chairman of his own Miguel Indurain Foundation.
Reasons for success
The reason for Indurain temporarily utter superiority lay in the combination of mental strength and exceptional physical values. Its size of 1.88 m and its weight of about 80 kg earned him the nickname Big Mig, however, led to good leverage ratios and power values. Indurain's lung capacity was eight liters and thus three liters more than the human average. The record for the lowest resting heart rate ever recorded in a healthy person, Indurain holds with 28 beats per minute. The average value of adults is about 70 beats per minute. In addition, his heart minute volume was 50 l / min. As a result, his body was able to absorb more oxygen and forward them to the muscles than its competitors.
Awards
- Vélo d'Or 1992, 1993