José-Manuel Fuente

Personal information
Full name	José-Manuel Fuente Lavandera
Nickname	El Tarangu
Date of birth	September 30, 1945(1945-09-30)
Date of death	July 18, 1996 (aged 50)
Country	Spain
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber
Professional team(s)1
1969 1970 1971–1975 1976	Pepsi-Cola Karpy Licor Kas-Kaskol Bianchi-Campagnolo
Major wins
Vuelta a España 1972, 1974 Tour de Suisse 1973
Infobox last updated on:
October 17, 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

José Manuel Fuente (September 30, 1945 in Limanes, Spain – July 18, 1996 in Oviedo, Spain) was a former professional road racing cyclist and known as a climbing specialist. Fuente was a professional from 1969 to 1976. He had the same nickname as his father and grandfather which was "El Tarangu" which is said to be Asturian dialect for a man reputed for his strength and character.^[1] Fuente was known as one of the greatest climbers of his generation. Fuente is a two-time winner of the Vuelta a España and won four consecutive climbers classification (or King of the Mountains) at the Giro d'Italia. He was rivals with the great cyclists of his time - Eddy Merckx and Luis Ocana. He won the Vuelta a España in 1972, which at that time was held in late April and early May. Several weeks later in the 1972 Giro d'Italia, Fuente had a great battle with Eddy Merckx. Fuente took the maglia rosa early on in the race but Merckx took it back. On the mountain stage to Bardonecchia, Fuente put in an attack that put pressure on Merckx. Little by little, Merckx increased his pace and came back to Fuente and ended up winning the stage.^[2] Health problems due to kidney disease forced Fuente to retire in 1975. After retirement Fuente opened a successful cycle business in Oviedo and in 1988 was appointed directeur sportif of the Clas team.^[3] This lasted only a year, after which he was replaced in 1989 by Juan Fernadez. Fuente died following a long battle with kidney disease at age 50.^[1]

[edit] Major results by year

[edit] References

v • d • e Vuelta a España winners 1935–36 Gustaaf Deloor • 1937–40 Spanish Civil War • 1941–42 Julián Berrendero • 1943–44 World War II • 1945 Delio Rodríguez • 1946 Dalmacio Langarica • 1947 Edward Van Dijck • 1948 Bernardo Ruiz • 1949 Race not held • 1950 Emilio Rodríguez • 1951–54 Race not held • 1955 Jean Dotto • 1956 Angelo Conterno • 1957 Jesús Loroño • 1958 Jean Stablinski • 1959 Antonio Suárez • 1960 Frans De Mulder • 1961 Angelino Soler • 1962 Rudi Altig • 1963 Jacques Anquetil • 1964 Raymond Poulidor • 1965 Rolf Wolfshohl • 1966 Francisco Gabica • 1967 Jan Janssen • 1968 Felice Gimondi • 1969 Roger Pingeon • 1970 Luis Ocaña • 1971 Ferdinand Bracke • 1972 José Manuel Fuente • 1973 Eddy Merckx • 1974 José Manuel Fuente • 1975 Agustín Tamames • 1976 José Pesarrodona • 1977 Freddy Maertens • 1978 Bernard Hinault • 1979 Joop Zoetemelk • 1980 Faustino Ruperez • 1981 Giovanni Battaglin • 1982 Marino Lejarreta • 1983 Bernard Hinault • 1984 Éric Caritoux • 1985 Pedro Delgado • 1986 Álvaro Pino • 1987 Luis Herrera • 1988 Seán Kelly • 1989 Pedro Delgado • 1990 Marco Giovannetti • 1991 Melcior Mauri • 1992–93–94 Tony Rominger • 1995 Laurent Jalabert • 1996–97 Alex Zülle • 1998 Abraham Olano • 1999 Jan Ullrich • 2000 Roberto Heras • 2001 Ángel Casero • 2002 Aitor González • 2003–04 Roberto Heras • 2005 Denis Menchov • 2006 Alexander Vinokourov • 2007 Denis Menchov • 2008 Alberto Contador 2009 Alejandro Valverde

[edit] External links

• Palmares of Jose Manuel Fuente

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