Delgado in 2016
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Personal information | |
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Full name | Pedro Delgado Robledo |
Nickname | Perico |
Born |
Segovia, Castile and León, Spain |
April 15, 1960
Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) |
Weight | 64 kg (141 lb; 10.1 st) |
Team information | |
Current team | Retired |
Discipline | Road |
Role | Rider |
Rider type | Climbing specialist, 3-week competitions |
Professional team(s) | |
1982–1984 | Reynolds |
1985 | Orbea–Gin MG |
1986–1987 | PDM–Concorde |
1988–1994 | Reynolds |
Major wins | |
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Pedro Delgado Robledo (pronounced: [ˈpeðɾo delˈɣaðo ɾoˈbleðo]; born April 15, 1960), also known as Perico ([peˈɾiko]), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989.
Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5 ft 7-1/2 in) and used to weigh 64 kilograms (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 and the 1985 Vuelta a España 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, was allowed to continue racing and was not charged with any doping offence.
He works now as a sports commentator for Televisión Española during important cycling events.
Delgado inspired the name of the Scottish indie-rock band The Delgados.
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.