Born in Limanes, near Oviedo, in 1945, José Manuel Fuente earned his reputation as a daring cyclist, perhaps excessively so, with his two victories in the Vuelta a España (1972 and 1974), a third place in the 1973 Tour and, especially, his battles with Eddy Merckx in some exciting editions of the Giro d’Italia.
The Tarangu (carefree, a nickname inherited from his father and grandfather) took no prisoners and his desire for glory led him, quite possibly, to lose a Giro that was within reach. It happened in May 1974, 50 years ago.
Fuente ran in Kas, under the command of the legendary Antón Barrutia and accompanied by the best cyclists, Luis Ocaña apart, from the Spanish peloton. In 1974 he was proclaimed winner of the Vuelta that ended in San Sebastián on Sunday, May 12, the same day that Cruyff’s Barça League concluded and that Granollers was proclaimed handball champion thanks to the unsurpassable performance of its goal. , Papitu Perramón, and the victory (13-6) over At. Madrid on the last day.
As incredible as it may seem today, in just four days, on Thursday the 16th, the Giro d’Italia began, with the start in no less than the Vatican and papal blessing by Paul VI. And there was Fuente, barely recovering, ready to chain another three long weeks of competition and stand up to the colossus Merckx, the Cannibal, the invincible. The Belgian had already accumulated four victories in the Giro, four Tours and one Vuelta. His record in other races that are not at all minor would not fit in these pages. He was the undisputed favorite, number one. As José Manuel Fuente himself explained, “the lighthouse that we all observe. His movements will mark the competition.”
The Tarangu went out of control and in the third stage, in Campania, the first day with some mountains before ending in the dizzying descent to Sorrento, he put on the pink jersey. Eddy Merckx, possibly still short of form, gave up 42 seconds. Fuente, number 91, was rearing up. He won again in the ninth, on Mount Carpegna, after a face to face in the fog with the Belgian. A peak today baptized as Passo Marco Pantani that Tarangu crowned with 1m18s, with Merckx desperately trying to close the gap, totally isolated. Fuente already had an income of 1m40s in the general classification.
The brave Asturian, with clenched teeth, fixed gaze, impassive regular pedaling, was the center of conversations in bars throughout Spain and dominated the covers. “Merckx under the whip of Fuente”, headlined Mundo Deportivo, “Spanish Tromba” pointed out Marca.
Two days later, another stage for Fuente, insatiable. Another 41 seconds. And he already had the feared Cannibal at a distance that he could honorably defend in the Forte dei Marmi time trial, already in Tuscany, over 40 kilometers, the only one in a fundamentally mountainous Giro.
There Merckx was the undisputed favorite and showed himself imperial. Moser, Petterson, Ritter, Gimondi, Baronchelli… they all bowed to Merckx. Fuente suffered outside his home field, but kept the pink jersey with a lead reduced to just 18 seconds and an encouraging outlook: there were still eleven stages left before the conclusion in Milan and six were mountain stages, with the Dolomites on the horizon. If Fuente played his tricks cleverly, this could be his great turn.
But it sank. In the fourteenth stage, on the way to Sanremo, Fuente launched an unnecessary attack, without waiting for the great mountain, and when he fainted the Cannibal ate him. With the Tarangu adrift, at the finish line Merckx beat him… eight minutes. A lesson, another one, from the Belgian champion, who ended up winning his fifth Giro.
“I have been selfish, I wanted to gain some more time in this stage, I have demanded that the team work hard and when my strength failed me…”, Tarangu said honestly at the finish line.
In the remaining stages Fuente still won two others, including the prestigious Three Peaks of Lavaredo. Five wins in total. And 14 days with the pink jersey. Throughout his career he was on the podium in the three grand tours and accumulated 14 partial victories. In 1971 he came to compete, and finish, all three. In 1976, with kidney problems, he had to give up cycling. He later owned a bicycle shop in Oviedo, collaborated in the launch of the Clas-Cajastur team and received a loving tribute in Asturias in 1995, attended by Merckx, Gimondi and Thévenet, among others.
Fuente died at just 50 years old, in 1996, after complications following an inevitable kidney transplant. He could beat Merckx, he had him within reach of his pedals, but he didn’t succeed. Perhaps the best summary as a final point to that historic Giro of 1974 was the one that appeared in the pages of this newspaper: “Imagine what would have happened to Pastor David if he did not get the stone right. Well, that has happened to our particular David compared to the sleeping Goliath Eddy Merckx.”
