Retro: When a young Miguel Indurain competed in the Spanish athletics championships
This article originally appeared on Velo News
Miguel Indurain is well known as the only person to win five consecutive editions of the Tour de France, but before he was a top bike rider he was a dab hand at running.
In footage published on YouTube and circulated this week on the Twitter account @DavidGuenel, a 13-year-old Indurain is seen competing in the 1977 Spanish school championships. He was participating with his school from Pamplona and ran the 300-meter event.
Indurain was fifth heading onto the finishing straight but nabbed the bronze medal with a big drive to the line.
He competed in running, basketball, football, and javelin before switching to cycling at 14. Indurain found rapid success, netting second in his first race, winning his second, and going to become the youngest rider to win the national amateur road race championships at just 18.
Two years later he became the youngest ever rider to lead the Vuelta a Espana and then two years after that won the Volta a Catalunya at 24.
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Indurain's run of Tour victories began in 1991 and continued until 1995. He also won two editions of the Giro d'Italia, the Olympic Games and world championships time trials, numerous stage races, and was the hour record holder.
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