Luis Ocaña

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luis Ocaña Road cycling
at the Tour de France 1973
at the Tour de France 1973
To person
Full name Jesús Luis Ocaña Pernía
Date of birth June 9, 1945
date of death May 19, 1994
nation SpainSpain Spain
discipline Street
End of career 1977
doping
1977 Pemoline
Most important successes
Vuelta a España
1970 overall ranking
six stages
Tour France
1973 overall ranking
nine stages
Last updated: December 16, 2018

Jesús Luis Ocaña Pernía (born June 9, 1945 in Priego , Cuenca province , † May 19, 1994 in Mont-de-Marsan ) was a Spanish cyclist . In 1970 he won the Vuelta a España and in 1973 the Tour de France . Because he was terminally ill, he committed suicide in 1994.

biography

Athletic career

Luis Ocaña was born the son of a forest worker in Castile; When he was six years old, his family moved to France , where he grew up and was nicknamed The Spaniard of Mont-de-Marsan .

His talent was promoted by the former cyclist and Tour de France winner Antonin Magne . Even as an amateur, he demonstrated his strengths as a time trial specialist when he took second place at the Grand Prix de France in 1965, second place in 1966 and first place at the Amateurs Grand Prix des Nations in 1967 .

In 1968 Ocaña turned professional, first driving for the Spanish team Fagor-Fargas, later for the French Bic team, then again in Spain for Super-Ser. The "Spanish Merckx" (quote from the Spanish sports press at the time) became legendary not only because of its Tour victory in 1973 but also because of the bad luck at the 1971 Tour . He was already leading the overall standings with more than eight minutes over his constant rival Eddy Merckx before he fell so badly and seriously injured himself on the 14th stage from Revel to Bagnères-de-Luchon that he had to end the tour. After the end of this stage in Lunchon, Merckx refused to accept the yellow jersey . Regardless of this gesture, the rivalry remained in the race, but also outside of it, as Merckx in particular also feuded the mentally fragile Ocaña psychologically.

In the 1977 Tour de France , Ocaña was suspended for one month (on probation) for doping with pemoline , received ten minutes of penalty and was fined 1000 Swiss francs.

Ocaña started a total of 18 times between 1968 and 1977 in the major national tours . In 1970 he won the Vuelta a España and won a total of six stages over the years. In 1973 he won the Tour de France in the absence of Merckx and decided a total of nine stages of the tour for themselves. He won the Critérium du Dauphiné three times - in 1970, 1972 and 1973, the Tour of the Basque Country in 1971 and 1973, and the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme in 1969 and 1973 . In 1971 he won the Tour of Catalonia .

In 1977 Luis Ocaña ended his active sports career.

Professional

In the same year Ocaña moved with his family to a winery in Caupenne-d'Armagnac and worked in the vineyard; he did not leave the estate for a year. In 1983 he became sports director of the Colombian Cycling Federation, then of the Spanish team Teka . This activity ended in a heated public argument. He switched to the Fagor team ; During the 1985 Vuelta a España , he attempted to ram the car of another sports director, José Miguel Echavarri (a former teammate of his). Further engagements as sports director were unsuccessful. From 1991 to 1994 he worked as a commentator for a Spanish television station. In addition, he developed into a committed supporter of the right-wing extremist politician Jean-Marie Le Pen , for whom he advertised in vain among his cycling friends.

Accidents and death

While attending the 1979 Tour de France , Luis Ocaña was involved in a serious car accident in which his car fell off the road and crashed into a ravine. He was in a coma, suffered multiple fractures, and has had reduced visual acuity in one eye since then. In 1983 his car collided with a truck and he was in the Mont-de-Marsan hospital for several weeks. In the course of these accidents, he probably received a contaminated blood transfusion, which resulted in hepatitis C and liver cancer . Even before these diseases, Ocaña was known for his extreme mood swings and his sometimes aggressive actions, which now intensified into severe depression, also against the background of financial problems due to a bad harvest in the winery.

Shortly before the start of the tour in 1994, the 48-year-old attempted suicide with a gun on May 19 in his finca in southern France. He was found dead three hours later at the Mont-de-Marsan hospital. The funeral, in which Merckx also took part, took place in the Notre Dame des Cyclistes racing band in Labastide-d'Armagnac , where Ocaña and his wife had married 30 years earlier; the former racing driver Henry Anglade made a stained glass window in memory of Ocaña for the chapel. The tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc drew the conclusion that Ocaña's life was "dramatic", which is why he chose a dramatic ending.

Private

On December 24, 1966, Luis Ocaña married his wife Josiane , with whom he had two children (* 1968/1970).

Successes (selection)

Ocaña at the Tour de France 1976
Yellow jersey by Ocaña, Tour de France 1973
1967
1968
  • three stages of the Ruta del Sol
  • MaillotEspaña.svg Spanish champion - road race
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1975

Grand Tour placements

Grand Tour 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
Orange jersey Vuelta a España DNF 2 1 3 - 2 4th 4th 2 22nd
Maglia Rosa Giro d'Italia 32 - - - - - - - - -
Yellow jersey Tour de France - DNF 31 DNF DNF 1 - DNF 14th 25th
Legend: DNF: did not finish , abandoned or withdrawn from the race due to timeout.

literature

  • Alasdair Fotheringham: Reckless. The Life and Times of Luis Ocaña . Bloomsbury, London / New Delhi / New York / Sydney 2014, ISBN 978-1-4088-4602-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fotheringham, Reckless , p. 171.
  2. ↑ Fotheringham, Reckless , pp. 169 f.
  3. ↑ Ralf Meutgens : Doping in cycling , Bielefeld 2007, p. 258. ISBN 978-3-7688-5245-6
  4. ↑ Luis Ocaña Pernia (1973) (February 6, 2012)
  5. ^ Fotheringham, Reckless , pp. 251 f.
  6. ^ Fotheringham, Reckless , pp. 252 f.
  7. ^ Fotheringham, Reckless , pp. 257 f.
  8. ↑ History: Triumph and Fall of Luis Ocana. In: sport.de. July 22, 2017, accessed December 16, 2018 .
  9. ^ Fotheringham, Reckless , p. 260.
  10. ^ Alasdair Fotheringham: Luis Ocaña: the rider with no limits - and no luck at all. In: Independent. May 22, 2014, accessed December 16, 2018 .
  11. ^ Fotheringham, Reckless , p. 264.
  12. ^ Fotheringham, Reckless , p. 265.
personal data
SURNAME Ocaña, Luis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ocaña Pernía, Jesús Luis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH June 9, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Priego , Province of Cuenca
DATE OF DEATH May 19, 1994
Place of death Mont-de-Marsan