The definitive biography of the first Spaniard to conquer the Tour de France. Federico Martín Bahamontes, the Eagle of Toledo, is universally revered as the greatest climber in the history of cycling. The first Spaniard to win the Tour de France and six-time king of the mountains classification, he became a national hero in a Spain struggling to recover from the devastation of the Civil War. In fact, his legend was forged through survival. In the harsh post-war years, on the brink of starvation, the young Bahamontes used his bicycle for black market trading, before discovering that those escapes from the Civil Guard were preparing him for a future of sporting glory. From his explosive debut to his consecration in 1959, his career was marked by a charismatic, temperamental, and controversial style, leaving behind indelible anecdotes such as the ice cream at the top of the Romeyère. In this second edition, Alasdair Fotheringham offers a complete portrait of a brilliant and eccentric athlete. Through exclusive interviews, this work reconstructs the life of the man who, despite the controversies and his appropriation by the regime, remains the great pioneer of Spanish cycling.