Julio Jiménez (cyclist)
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Julio Jiménez Muñoz |
Nickname | La pulga de Ávila (The Flea of Ávila), El Relojero de Ávila (The Watchmaker of Ávila)[1] |
Born | 28 October 1934 Ávila, Spain |
Died | 8 June 2022 Ávila, Spain | (aged 87)
Team information | |
Current team | Retired |
Discipline | Road |
Role | Rider |
Rider type | Climber |
Professional teams | |
1960–1961 | Catigene |
1962 | Faema |
1963 | Flandria–Faema |
1964–1965 | Kas–Kaskol |
1966 | Ford France–Hutchinson |
1967–1968 | Bic |
1969 | Eliolona |
Major wins | |
Grand Tours |
Julio Jiménez Muñoz (28 October 1934 – 8 June 2022)[2] was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist.
Early life
[edit]Jiménez's father was an ambulance driver during Spain’s Civil War, and later a chauffeur for a general in the Spanish army, who gave Jiménez his first bike as a gift. As an amateur rider, he won a stage at the 1960 Volta a Catalunya, which helped him earn his first professional contract.[3]
Career
[edit]Known as a climbing specialist, he won the King of the Mountains title six times at Grand Tours. He won five stages of the Tour de France in his career; stage 20 of the 1964 Tour de France was one of the most famous stages in TDF history due to the battle up the Puy-de-Dôme between Anquetil and Poulidor. This stage was won by Jiménez, who was able to cross the line 0:11 ahead of Spanish climber Federico Bahamontes, 0:57 ahead of Poulidor, 1:30 ahead of Vittorio Adorni and 1:39 ahead of Anquetil.[4] Although beaten by Bahamontes in the Mountains classification at the 1964 Tour, Jiménez would win the Mountains classification at the next three Tours de France, also finishing second overall in 1967. In 1965, he became one of (now) four riders to complete the Tour/Vuelta double by winning both Tour's mountains competition in the same year. He also wore the leaders jersey at the 1964 Vuelta; and the 1966 and 1968 Giro d'Italia. He retired after the 1969 season, returning to his home town of Avila where he opened a nightclub and restaurant.[5] A short, steep pedestrianised street in Ávila, Cuesta de Julio Jiménez, is named in his honour.
Major results
[edit]- 1960
- 1st Stage 5 Volta a Catalunya
- 1961
- Vuelta a Colombia
- 1st Stages 6, 8, 9 & 11
- 1st Stage 1 (ITT) Eibarko Bizikleta
- 5th Campeonato Vasco Navarro de Montaña
- 5th GP Ayuntamiento de Bilbao
- 1962
- 1st Subida a Urkiola
- 1st Stage 4 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Stage 5 Volta a Catalunya
- 2nd Subida a Arrate
- 1963
- 1st Mountains classification, Vuelta a España
- 4th GP Ayuntamiento de Bilbao
- 5th Mont Faron Hill Climb
- 8th Road race, National Road Championships
- 9th Trofeo Jaumendreu
- 1964
- 1st Road race, National Road Championships
- 1st Subida a Urkiola
- 2nd Overall Eibarko Bizikleta
- 1st Stage 4
- 5th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stages 5 & 14
- 5th GP Ayuntamiento de Bilbao
- 6th Subida a Arrate
- 7th Overall Tour de France
- 1st Stages 3b (TTT), 13 & 20
- 1965
- 1st Overall Subida a Arrate
- 1st Stage 2 (ITT)
- 1st Subida a Urkiola
- Tour de France
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stages 9 & 17
- Vuelta a España
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stage 10b
- 1966
- Tour de France
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stage 16
- 2nd Subida al Naranco
- 2nd Circuit d'Auvergne
- 4th Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1967
- 1st Polymultipliée
- 1st Stage 3 Tour de Luxembourg
- 2nd Overall Tour de France
- 2nd Mont Faron Hill Climb
- 3rd À travers Lausanne
- 1968
- 2nd Overall Vuelta a Mallorca
- 1st Stage 4a
- 2nd Overall Polymultipliée
- 10th Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stages 9 & 18
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
[edit]Grand Tour | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vuelta a España | — | 36 | 46 | 23 | 5 | 34 | — | 20 | — | — |
Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | 10 | 36 |
Tour de France | — | — | — | — | 7 | 23 | 13 | 2 | 30 | — |
— | Did not compete |
---|---|
DNF | Did not finish |
References
[edit]- ^ Clarke, Stuart (5 November 2015). "13 of the strangest nicknames in cycling". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- ^ Muere el exciclista Julio Jiménez, el 'Relojero de Ávila', a los 87 años (in Spanish)
- ^ "Meet Julio Jiménez: You think Bahamontes was Spain's greatest climber? Think again". VeloNews. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ "1964 Tour de France by BikeRaceInfo".
- ^ "Meet Julio Jiménez: You think Bahamontes was Spain's greatest climber? Think again". VeloNews.com. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
External links
[edit]- Julio Jiménez at Cycling Archives (archived)
- Palmarès at velo-club.net (in French)