FEDERICO BAHAMONTES DECEMBER 2007									FEDERICO BAHAMONTES CERTAIN PEOPLE HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF LIVING A LIFE THAT NATURALLY CIRCLES AROUND THEIR OWN PERSONALITY. THEY DO THIS WITH REMARKABLE EASE, DRIVEN BY A STEADY RESTLESSNESS AND AN INEXHAUSTIBLE VITALITY. FEDERICO BAHAMONTES, BORN IN 1928, BEGAN RACING TO ESCAPE FROM SPAIN’S POST-WAR MISERY AND BECAME THE COUNTRY’S FIRST SPORTS HERO BY WINNING THE TOUR DE FRANCE IN 1959. OBSERVING HIM IN HIS GARAGE, WORKING WITH FAULTLESS TECHNIQUE ON HIS OLD BIKES, IT STRUCK ME AS UNBELIEVABLE THAT HE HAD NOT RIDDEN ONE SINCE HIS LAST RACE IN 1965.