The historic victory of the Chozas at the Col du Granon in 1986: "I reached the limit. I can not take it anymore. it is eternal"

36 years ago Madrid cyclist Eduardo Chozaswhere it was his second Tour de France, was able to write one of the magical pages of glory in the history of cycling and Touring. On July 20, 1986, the 17th season of the Tour left gap and graduated with Col du Granona stormy day 190 kilometers, in which Chozas will achieve one of his four victories in ‘Great Loop’.

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A success not the result of chance, but of careful study of the stage and route of the whole race, which he sometimes thought he could not achieve, especially in the last three kilometers, which seemed endless and left both in background because of the few pictures you have of him and because it is the same day Greg Lemond I’ll grab the yellow jersey Bernard Hinault.

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Looking back, Eduardo recalled that “there were very few left in the mountains and I had to take advantage of them. There was the Granon and there was the Alpe d’Huez, which was the last hard one, and I knew that the one from Alpe d’Huez has many boyfriends in general. A classic ending of the Tour, where there has been a lot of controversy and where the breakaways are very complicated due to the tradition that Alpe d’Huez has always had; so I chose that day, before the great battle of the Alpe d’Huez, but with another stage of similar conditions and cruelty. He climbed the cabbage vars approximately 30 kilometers from the exit, then the izoardwhich is another colossus that is not in the category, and then the cabbage grainwhich is a great unknown. There isn’t as much data as there is today about inequality, about percentages, ”explains the MD collaborator.

Chozas is smart and patient: “That stage was like every day, everyone tried to run away, it was so fast, attacks, counterattacks and when it seemed to me it was a level where Lucho Herrera he came in for a sprint down the mountain I rode, I gave him continuity, just nowl Col de Vars and since it passed quickly and the stage was very difficult, I took advantage of the Col de Vars to climb into the sack and gain a very bad advantage, because in the back there was a break and I already had a mythical and very difficult stage. ahead of me. A breakaway came from behind with Anselmo Fuerte at eight, and at number eight they could have chased me, but I didn’t give up. At Izoard, I think I still get that first scout about 10 minutes into the top. I dived at full speed into an aero position and presented myself to Briançon“.

The suffering had only just begun and little thought Eduardo the punishment awaits him. “Since then, the difficulty started, especially with 3 km to go, I was no longer so, 150 km at full throttle, I made the flat at full throttle and fixed myself. Everyone has a limit and it comes down to me with 3 km to go km, I got the syndrome that gives you when you break out in a cold sweat, hungry, you want to get there, you have no strength. I never got there, like forever, I think I reached 15 minutes to do so, without any references from the rear Sebastian Well in the vehicle of Teak. I knew something was wrong, what was happening was that Hinault I handed over the yellow jersey, whatand Lemond I went forward and had a change of leader and trend that day in 1986. 36 years ago, I was able to win, not without effortless effort and the Tour recognized it this year, because I had an unprecedented season. , you can only see me on television in the last 300 meters. I passed the finish line very slowly and I could barely let go of the tired hands.

A climb still fresh in his memory: “It was a very difficult climb, with uniform sections at 10%, with permanent ramps 13 and 14. It was an atypical harbor. because it is short, when it is compared, for example, with Galibier, at 2,413 meters, relatively short, but harder than usual. Harder and more concentrated than Alpe d’Huez. There are 11 kilometers where you have no rest, no shade, no trees, and if it’s hot it’s a day that can affect you badly. I realized that stage was very difficult, a lot of people came failing, they had to be given oxygen to the old military base and the transfer to the podium was by helicopter, of those from war in vietnam“.

That year Chozas finished the Tour in 14th place and it wasn’t his last victory, added about Morzin in 1987 and of St Etienne in 1990.

This Wednesday Tadej Pogacar defends 11 seconds armor of yellow vs. Lennard Kamna Y jonas vingegaard. We’ll see how the leader responds with a depleted team, what the mighty Jumbo-Visma’s plan is and how far he can go. Enrique Mas.

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One of the keys to his success was explained by Eduardo himself in these words: “I always had a Campagnolo aluminum sprocket ready, because the crowns broke very quickly, and mine was used four or five times throughout. Tour and I carried it in my suitcase, and I used it on high mountain stages. On that sprocket, whose tradition went with 23, higher gears were not used, I put 24 at most and in the chainring we have 41, it’s the smallest thing you can bring at that time and that’s the highest progress you can get for the mountain ”