“Today, January 2, 1997, I want to publicly announce my retirement from cycling. I knew it was a moment that had to come and it has come. “With these phrases, Miguel Indurain, on a cold morning in Pamplona, announced twenty-five years ago getting off the bike.
After the toast to the new year, and surely with the possibility of continuing to expand its extensive record, Indurain chose for his retirement a January 2, the same day that another myth, Fausto Coppi, had died in 1960.
The Navarrese cyclist, at that time 32 years old, chose for his farewell a room in a hotel in Pamplona with capacity for eighty people, a capacity that was small due to the expectation generated by each step he took.
Indurain arrived at the hotel escorted by the police and, with a sober tone, read a statement that he had written with his wife, Marisa, to end his career as a cyclist after twelve years full of successes with a low profile farewell, totally opposite to the feats that he starred in on the bicycle and that had made him the best Spanish cyclist of all time.
The decision of his dismissal came after becoming in 1996 Olympic time trial champion in Atlanta (United States), but with the troubles of eleventh place in the Tour de France and, above all, the withdrawal on the thirteenth stage of the Vuelta a España, a race he never won.
In that Tour of Spain, on the way to the Lakes of Covadonga, Indurain left sick. Also tired from the wear and tear of the season and because the promise of Banesto’s general manager, José Miguel Echávarri, to free him from that career was not fulfilled. The imposition of the directors of the bank prevailed, frustrated by not seeing the Navarrese raise his arms that year for the sixth time on the Champs Elysees.
That was perhaps the last straw that began to crack on October 15, 1995, when Indurain could not beat the hour record in the Colombian city of Bogotá. worn by the Swiss Tony Rominger. That frustrated attempt made a dent in the relationship between the Navarrese and Banesto and whose consequences would come to light on several occasions the following year.
The club of five
The legend of Miguel Indurain will always be linked to the Tour de France for his five consecutive victories between 1991 and 1995, a feat that equaled the French Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault and the Belgian Eddy Merckx, although neither of them won all five in a row.
Induráin’s dominance in the Tour was overwhelming in that five-year period between 1991 and 1995. The power shown in the time trial and being with the best in the mountains, although always at his own pace, sometimes unbearable, were the keys to his leadership in the gala round.
He did not find that romance with the Tour in any other race. He won the Giro d’Italia twice (1992 and 1993) and climbed to the third drawer of the podium in his last participation (1994). In the Tour of Spain, of the eight times he participated, he only came out on the podium photo in 1991 with a second place.
Indurain’s track record also features two victories in Paris-Nice, three Voltas a Catalunya, two Criterium del Dauphiné, one Clásica San Sebastián, a Spanish road championship, a time trial World Championship and a road world runner-up.
A unique record for a unique cyclist. The question will always remain as to whether what happened in the 1996 Tour was a sign that his career was going downhill and the withdrawal was a success. or if, on the contrary, it was just a warning for wear and tear that would make him uncover his best cycling version to win again. In any case, Indurain decided to say goodbye with that half smile with which he always attended to his followers, spending a cold morning on January 2, 1997 from cyclist to myth.