Pau Gasol on crutches celebrating the first World Championship of the Spanish National Basketball Team in Japan. Rafa Nadal conquering Roland Garros on 10 occasions. Iker Casillas lifting the World Cup in South Africa, surrounded by an unrepeatable football team... The collective memory of Spanish sports is full of iconic moments. As for cycling, the image of Miguel Induráin dressed in yellow on the podium of the Champs-Élysées in Paris appears almost immediately. This historic moment in cycling, both in road bikes and in mountain bikes, is backed by a series of legendary achievements that keep the Navarrese at the top of the sport. But, out of all of them, which are the 5 feats of Miguelón that cycling fans cannot forget?
1. The feat of the five mountain passes (1991)
If there was a stage that marked Induráin's first Tour de France, it was the 12th, in which no less than five mountain passes were climbed: Pourtalet, Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin, and Val Louron. At that time, Pedro Delgado was still the leader of Banesto and Miguel Induráin was not so well known among the general public. But the situation would change completely that day. On the descent of the Tourmalet, he broke away together with Claudio Chiappucci. Neither Greg Lemond, nor Laurent Fignon, nor Luc Leblanc were able to follow in their wake. With 60 kilometers to go, the giant from Navarre gritted his teeth and launched a 2,115-meter sprint downhill that destroyed the Italian. El Diablo gave his all to try to catch the Spaniard, who, a short distance from the finish, agreed with him to let him take the stage victory as thanks for having helped him get the yellow jersey. It was the beginning of the legend.
2. Head to head with Chiappucci in Sestriere (1992)
In 1992 Miguel Induráin was no longer a cycling promise or a revelation, but the reigning Tour winner and the strongest candidate to retain the crown. His rivals respected and feared him in equal measure. The Italians Gianni Bugno and Claudio Chiappucci were his two main adversaries. Bugno was more conservative, but the style of El Diablo was that of an aggressive cyclist, who went all out as soon as he saw a good opportunity. He made it clear in the 13th stage, a high mountain one, finishing in Sestriere. At 50 kilometers from the start, the Italian attacked fiercely and stayed solo for 200 tortuous kilometers. The only one able to follow in his wake was the Spaniard, who would eventually finish 2 minutes behind him. Greg LeMond would have to withdraw the following day and the Italian's breakaway would leave a trail of riders dropped from the general classification, many more than 40 minutes behind. Despite the second place, Induráin's endurance earned him the yellow jersey and proved that his capacity for suffering was supernatural.
3. The brutal Périgueux-Bergerac time trial (1994)
Deciding which was Miguel Induráin’s best time trial is a complicated task. But the page the Navarrese left written on July 11, 1994, is one of the most unforgettable. The extraterrestrial—as the French press had already dubbed him—faced the challenge of taking the yellow jersey from the Belgian Johan Museeuw, a temporary leader, and at the same time putting minutes into his direct rivals: Rominger, Bugno, Zülle, or Pantani. He achieved both goals by far. With 40 degrees on the thermometer, what came out of his pedals was an epic feat. He put 2 minutes into Rominger, more than 5 into Chris Boardman, 9:03 into Zülle, 10:37 into Bugno, and 10:59 into Pantani. An incredible achievement within reach of very few.
4. The Hour Record... Or how to break the laws of physics (1994)
If anyone could take on one of the most technical and demanding challenges in modern cycling, the Hour Record, it was Miguel Induráin. On September 2, 1994, he achieved it by completing 53.04 kilometers in 60 minutes. He thus surpassed the 52.71 kilometers achieved by the Briton Graeme Obree that same year. Obree, in turn, had sent the previous best record, held by Chris Boardman (52.27 kilometers), into oblivion. The Bordeaux velodrome witnessed the Spaniard’s heroism, who left for the history books his image atop a very special bicycle: the Espada. Pinarello built it specifically for him, applying advanced aerodynamics technology and innovations from Formula 1. Made from a single piece of carbon fiber, it weighed 7.2 kilos and featured lenticular wheels, with the rear wheel larger in diameter than the front. Tony Rominger soon broke the Navarrese’s record twice (53.83 and 55.29 kilometers), but Induráin’s feat was yet another display of his overwhelming dominance on the world cycling stage.
5. Neutralization of Zülle’s attack at La Plagne (1995)
In 1995, the big question was whether Induráin would be able to reach the level of the giants of history who already had 5 Tours: Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, and Bernard Hinault. None of them had achieved it consecutively. The list of contenders to take away his record was impressive, with Alex Zülle at the head, followed by Bjarne Riis, Tony Rominger, and Richard Virenque. In the ninth stage, between Le Grand-Bornand and La Plagne, when the Spaniard was already wearing yellow, Alex Zülle opened up a lead of more than four and a half minutes, making himself the new leader. He had achieved this, moreover, right at the start of the climb to La Plagne, which seemed almost unanswerable. With a brutal pedaling rhythm, Induráin got down to work and, without moving a single unnecessary muscle, with that composure that characterized him, steadily eroded the Swiss rider’s advantage until he made sure Zülle could not take the yellow jersey away from him. The rest of the Tour was a military parade.