José Manuel López

Spanish cyclist José Manuel López began his career as an amateur in the late 1950s. In 1961 López finished fourth in the amateur road race at the national championships, as well as winning two stages of the Vuelta a Guatemala, finishing the race third overall in the general classification. Three years later he became the Spanish amateur champion to earn himself a place on the Olympic team. At the 1964 Tokyo Games he put in consistent performances to finish fifth in the road race and eighth in the team time trial.

López won his second national amateur title in 1965 before turning professional the same year. After several podium places in races in Catalonia he then set his sights on the Grand Tours, finishing 15th in the Vuelta a España and 41st in the Tour de France in 1966. The following year he had his best result at the Vuelta, finishing sixth overall in the general classification, in addition to leading the race for a day. After multiple attempts he finally got a stage win when he crossed the line first on stage nine at the 1969 edition of the race. López went on to ride in a dozen Grand Tours during his career, finishing in all of them apart from the Giro d’Italia.