Pedro Delgado Robledo (; born 15 April 1960), also known as Perico (), is a Spanish former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most commo ...

. He won the

1988 Tour de France The 1988 Tour de France was the 75th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 24 July. It consisted of 22 stages over . The race was won by Pedro Delgado with the top three positions at the end of the race being occupied by specialis ...

, as well as the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5 ft 7-1/2 in) and used to weigh 64

kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially. ...

s (141 lb). He was a good climber, with an aggressive style, making cycling a spectacle, which gained him fans. On one hand, there were days when he was extremely successful attacking. On the other, he occasionally suffered from big losses of time due to mistakes or strokes of bad luck. He was also a good time-trialist until the nineties, when it became difficult for him to adapt to technical changes in the time-trial bicycles. The ending of the

1987 Tour de France The 1987 Tour de France was the 74th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 26 July. It consisted of 25 stages over . It was the closest three-way finish in the Tour until the 2007 Tour de France, among the closest overall races i ...

and the

1985 Vuelta a España The 40th Edition ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance Bicycle racing, bicycle Stage (bicycle race), stage race and one of the 3 Grand Tour (cycling), grand tours, was held from 23 April to 12 May 1985. It consisted of 19 stages c ...

and the whole 1989 Tour are among his more memorable participations in major competitions. Delgado tested positive for the known masking agent Probenecid during the 1988 tour. The drug, which had been placed on the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

's list of banned substances in January of that year, was not banned by the sport's governing body, the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues raci ...

(it was a month later); as a consequence, Delgado was allowed to continue racing and was not charged with any doping offence. Delgado was such a consistently strong rider that he finished in the top 10 of eighteen

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

. He works now as a sports commentator for

Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...

during important cycling events. Delgado inspired the name of the Scottish indie-rock band

The Delgados The Delgados are a Scottish indie rock band formed in Glasgow in 1994. The band is composed of Alun Woodward (vocals, guitar), Emma Pollock (vocals, guitar), Stewart Henderson (bass guitar), and Paul Savage (drums). Biography The band was fo ...

Delgado and the ''Tour de France''

Delgado took part in the ''Tour de France'' eleven times. During his first participation, when he was 23, he rose to second place in the overall classification after the 17th stage, before falling back later in the event. From then on, Delgado was determined to achieve victory in this competition. In 1983, the Reynolds team participated in the Tour for the first time. Delgado was a young rider, and

Ángel Arroyo Angel Arroyo Lanchas (born 2 August 1956 in El Barraco) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. In the 1983 Tour de France, Arroyo won one stage and finished 2nd place in the general classification. In stage 17 of the 1982 Vuelt ...

was the star of the team. That year the ''Tour'' had four individual time trials (ITT), plus the prologue, and six mountainous stages, so Delgado had enough opportunities to show his talent. After the 17th stage Delgado was second in the overall classification, 1´08" behind

Laurent Fignon Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He is former FICP World No. 1 in 1989. He nearly captured ...

, another 23-year-old rider competing in the Tour for the first time. Unfortunately, Delgado drank a spoilt milk shake that caused him a stomach cramp during the next stage, ending in

Morzine Morzine (; frp, Morzena) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France. A traditional market town in the heart of the Portes du Soleil, Morzine is dominated by chalets spread across a riv ...

. He lost 25 minutes 34 seconds that day, and his first chance of winning the ''Tour''. Delgado ended that Tour in 15th position, 25 minutes 44 seconds behind Fignon. It was not the only setback he had in this race. On the contrary, in different years he suffered the

fracture Fracture is the separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacement discontinuity surfaces within the solid. If a displ ...

of a

clavicle The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the r ...

, the death of his mother during a stage, the communication of a "positive" result in a dope test that finally proved false (but after it was filtered to the media),

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydr ...

, and a tremendous mistake that led him to lose seven minutes in the first two days of the tour of 1989.

1987 Tour de France

Delgado fought an epic battle with

Stephen Roche Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de Fr ...

during the

, that was resolved in favour of Roche only in the penultimate stage, an ITT. The final difference was 40 seconds, at the time the second smallest difference ever recorded. Delgado was the third best time-trialist that year, but Roche was clearly the best, and both knew that. Roche told a nice anecdote about it twenty years after: "''We were on French TV after the descent into Morzine'' he last mountain stage, and Delgado was still leader of the overall classification' and, off camera, he came up to me, hugged me, and said 'Bravo, you deserve the yellow jersey'." The TV people couldn't believe it! He's a fabulous competitor, but he's also a great, incredibly gallant guy and I think that's another reason why that Tour was so special''."

1988 Tour de France

Delgado won the

by a comfortable margin. However, it was suggested that the ''Tour'' was never easy for him. The evening after the 17th stage, the television channel "Antenne2" spread the news that Delgado had tested positive in a doping test. His team director José Miguel Echevarri was informed hours after by the Tour organization without mention of the substance. That night, Xavier Louy, director of the race, went to the hotel where Echavarri was and suggested to him that Delgado should withdraw. This was similar to the "Merckx affaire" in the 1969 Giro. The following morning Echevarri received the official communication. The substance was probenecid, a medicine for the kidney and also a masking agent for

anabolic steroids Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related and have similar effects t ...

. In 1988, every sport had a different list of banned substances and the IOC had its own, although there was a commitment to unify the lists in 1990. Probenecid was in the IOC list, but not in the UCI list (it would be one month later) and rule number 35 of the 1988 ''Tour'' regulations stated that the doping test would be carried out in accordance with the UCI rules. The mistake of the laboratory seemed evident and the technical jury declared that Delgado had not broken any (UCI) rule. However, the Director of the Tour de France, Jean-Pierre Courcol, said "I now know that the letter can replace the spirit of the law and that the regulations can be played with, in order to give the appearance of utter innocence. Today, I am ashamed" and his deputy, Jean-Marie Leblanc, described it as a "dismal verdict". Other riders were also unhappy, with

Andy Hampsten Andrew Hampsten (born April 7, 1962) is an American former professional road bicycle racer who won the 1988 Giro d'Italia and the Alpe d'Huez stage of the 1992 Tour de France. Between 1986–1994 he finished in the Top 10 of eight Grand Tours. ...

stating "Delgado took a drug to mask steroids. It's not on the banned list but it's a masking drug and that's what the commissaries should have acknowledged. I think it's a crime to let him wear the yellow jersey, a crime against the public and against the sport." In 1988 the sanction for this type of doping was a penalty of 10 minutes, which was applied to

Gert-Jan Theunisse Gert-Jan Theunisse (born 14 January 1963) is a Dutch former road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 edition of the Clásica San Sebastián one-day race. In the 1989 Tour de France, he won the King of the Mountains competition. Biography Theunisse ...

during the same 1988 Tour de France; Delgado, having been cleared, received no such penalty. Delgado's final advantage over the second rider in the overall classification,

Steven Rooks Steven Rooks (born 7 August 1960) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist known for his climbing ability. His professional career ran from 1982–1995. Career In the 1988 Tour de France, Rooks finished second and won a finish on ...

, was 7:13 minutes. Third, 9:58 behind, was

Fabio Parra Fabio Enrique Parra Pinto (born November 22, 1959 in Sogamoso, Boyacá) is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Parra was successful as an amateur in Colombia, winning the ''Novatos'' classification for new riders or riders riding their ...

. Delgado wore the yellow jersey for eleven days, and passed doping tests every day. There was no trace of probenecid nor steroids in any other test. He thanked the public for their support and claimed he would always be grateful for the support he received during the competition. Xavier Louy was replaced as Tour director months later.

1989 Tour de France

Delgado did not win the

1989 Tour de France The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race consisted of 21 stages and a prologue, over . It started on 1 July 1989 in Luxembourg before taking an anti-clockwise route through France ...

, but it marked, perhaps, his most spectacular performance in the race. Showing up 2m 40s late for the

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

, Delgado covered the distance only 14 seconds slower than

Erik Breukink Erik Breukink (born 1 April 1964) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist. In 1988, Breukink won the youth competition in the Tour de France. In 1990, finished 3rd in the 1990 Tour de France. Most recently, he served as the manager o ...

, the stage winner. He became the only defending champion to begin the race in last place, 2:54 behind Breukink. As Delgado admitted later, that night he was very nervous and did not sleep. The following day there were two stages. Due to this he was very weak and suffered

hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose bel ...

in the second stage, a decisive team time-trial. That day he would have been dropped by his team had they not waited, and Delgado lost more time than in the previous stage, 4:32. After that second stage, Delgado was last in the overall classification, more than seven minutes behind the best-classified of the favourites,

. Delgado rode the rest of the race on the offensive. His reaction started in the 5th stage, a 73 km individual time-trial. He was second in the stage, 24 seconds behind an impressive

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...

. In the first mountain stage, Delgado attacked during the last climb, gaining 29", but in the next stage Delgado, together with

Robert Millar Philippa York (born Robert Millar on 13 September 1958) is a Scottish journalist and former professional road racing cyclist. York, who competed when known as Robert Millar, is one of Britain's most successful cyclists. York won the "King of t ...

, finished 3:26 ahead of Fignon and 3:38 ahead of Lemond. Delgado was now 4th overall, 2:53 behind the leader, Fignon. After the 17th stage, finishing in Alpe d´Huez, final victory still seemed to be possible, Delgado was third overall, 1:55 behind Fignon and 1:29 behind Lemond. But Delgado, exhausted, was unable to make up all the time he had lost in the early stages, and the great final fight of that Tour had only two major figures: Laurent Fignon and the final winner,

Major results

;1979 : 1st Stage 11

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independen ...

;1980 : 1st Stage 8

Giro Ciclistico d'Italia Giro d'Italia Giovani Under 23, also known as Baby Giro, Girobio or Giro Ciclistico d'Italia, is an Italian road bicycle racing amateur stage race created in 1970. Giro d'Italia Giovani Under 23 is the most important race on Italy's U23 calendar, ...

: 1st Stage 5

GP Tell The Grand Prix Guillaume Tell (, "William Tell Grand Prize") was a professional cycling race held annually in Switzerland. It was part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were in ...

;1981 : 1st Overall

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia ( en, Tour of Murcia) is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, d ...

;1982 : 1st Clasica de Sabiñánigo : 1st Stage 4a

Vuelta a Cantabria The Vuelta a Cantabria is a multi-day road cycling race held annually in the region of Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunida ...

: 3rd

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

;1983 : 1st Overall

Vuelta a Aragón Vuelta a Aragón is a professional bicycle road race held in Spain in May of each year. The event was first run in 1939, and was not held between 2006 and 2017. The future of the race is uncertain; there had been plans to organise it again, but an ...

::1st Stage 3 : 1st Stage 3a

Vuelta a los Valles Mineros The Vuelta a los Valles Mineros was a road bicycle race held annually in Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(Engl ...

: 2nd

Subida al Naranco Subida al Naranco is a professional cycle road race held in Spain in early June each year. The event was first run in 1941 but was not held consistently until 1981. Between 2005 and 2010, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Eur ...

: 4th

: 5th Overall

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of ...

;1984 : 4th Overall

::Held after stages 7–11 : 9th Overall Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco : 9th Overall

;1985 : 1st Overall

::1st Stage 6 : 3rd Overall

: 5th Overall Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco : 6th Overall

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

::1st Stage 17 : 9th Overall

;1986 : 1st Stage 12

: 2nd

: 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuich : 6th Overall Tour de Suisse : 7th Overall

: 8th Overall

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme The Catalan Cycling Week (''Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme'' in Catalan) was a multi-stage road bicycle race held in Catalonia, Spain. Held annually from 1963 until 2005, it was run as a 2.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour in the second half of Ma ...

: 10th Overall

;1987 : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 19 ::Held after stages 20–23 : 4th Overall

: 7th Overall

;1988 : 1st Overall

::1st Stage 13 (

ITT ITT may refer to: Communication * Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional type theory B ...

) ::Held after stages 12–22 : 1st GP Miguel Induráin : 4th Overall

: 5th

Trophée des Grimpeurs The Trophée des Grimpeurs, called Polymultipliée until 1970, was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in the region of Val-d'Oise, France, between Argenteuil and Sannois. Between 1980 and 2002 it was a criterium. Since 2005, t ...

: 6th Overall Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco : 6th Overall

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

: 7th Overall Giro d'Italia : 8th

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...

;1989 : 1st Overall

::1st Stages 12, 15 (

) & 20 (

) : 2nd Overall

: 2nd Overall

: 3rd Overall

: 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuich : 3rd La Poly Normande : 4th

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège, also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five '' Monuments'' of the European professional ...

;1990 : 1st Stage 2

: 1st GP Miguel Induráin : 2nd Overall

: 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

: 4th

;1991 : 1st Overall

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In 2019, a multi-day wo ...

::1st Mountains classification ::1st Stage 4 : 1st

Subida a Urkiola Subida a Urkiola is a one-day cycling race in Durango, Biscay of the Basque Country. The route starts in Durango and ends at the Sanctuary of Urkiola. The first edition began in 1931 and is organized by the Sociedad Ciclista Bilbaina, but has not ...

: 1st Clasica a los Puertos : 2nd Overall

: 2nd

: 9th Overall

: 10th Overall

;1992 : 2nd

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 14 : 5th

: 6th Overall

: 8th Overall

: 10th Overall

;1993 : 1st Overall

: 2nd

Klasika Primavera The Klasika Primavera ( en, Spring classic) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in Amorebieta, Spain. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road ...

: 3rd Overall

Vuelta Asturias Vuelta Asturias is a professional road bicycle racing, cycle road race held in Spain in early May each year. The event was first run in 1925 but has not been held consistently until 1968 to present. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2. ...

: 6th Overall

: 9th Overall

;1994 : 2nd Overall

: 2nd

: 3rd Overall

: 5th Overall Escalada a Montjuich : 7th Overall

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

Pedro Delgado's Official Website
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Delgado, Pedro 1960 births Living people People from Segovia Sportspeople from the Province of Segovia Cyclists from Castile and León Tour de France winners Spanish Tour de France stage winners Vuelta a España winners Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners Doping cases in cycling Commentators Cycling announcers Spanish male cyclists

Delgado and the ''Tour de France''

1987 Tour de France

1988 Tour de France

1989 Tour de France

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

Further reading

External links