The voices of those commentators who accompanied the 1990 Tour de France on July 17, in which a man, Miguel Angel Martinez from Granada, was the “Hurricane de Maracena”, still echo in the minds cycling enthusiasts from Granada. The stage that crowns the mythical French port Col du Tourmalet was the only one to win, ahead of Greg Lemmon, Marino Lejarreta, and an incipient Miguel Indurain, who would win the next year the first of five Tours. Martinez finished fourth that day, according to Enrique Reyes (vice president of the club), “because Miguel’s greatness was the dimension he was acquiring in cycling.”
This feat was widely followed in his hometown for over three decades. It is now that his long-time club, Maracena Veloclub and the Maracena City Council have decided to pay him the respect he deserves.
Martinez, who didn’t expect it, has not been stingy in his words. He has expressed his gratitude for “in the face this ambush” as well as the affection his clubmates have shown since he started to pedal. Manuel Ramal, the former president of the club, who discovered the talents of the “Huracan”, Maracenero, and Marcelo Mochon, the current president, have been there at all times. The club made commemorative jerseys for the occasion and gave one to each of the participants. The Veloclub made a gentle, bearable transition to Deifontes after the act.
