Basque cycling mourns Anton Barrutia

Basque cilism mourns the death of one of the greats in its history. Anton Barrutia has passed away at the age of 88. Runner between 1953 and 1966, years in which he signed 52 victories, he is also remembered for his work at the head of the best Kas, where he directed great figures such as José Manuel Fuente, Txomin Perurena, Miguel Mari Lasa and González Linares, among many others. . The funeral will be this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the church of Santa Ana de Durango,

Born in Iurreta in 1933, Barrutia was caught up in the Civil War when he was only three years old, forcing the family to move as refugees first to Algorta and from there, to Zalla. He became a cyclist following the example of his brother Cosme, also a professional runner. «My father did not want me to run. He said that with a gulf he had enough. But at 20 he was already a cyclist, “he recalled in a recent interview.

His track record as a cyclist is extensive, with stages of the Vuelta a España, Subida a Arrate, Vuelta a Andalucía, Volta a Cataluña or the Clásica de Ordizia, among other races. He also won two Spanish Cyclo-cross Championships and was fourth in the World Cup of the specialty that took place in Tolosa in 1960. Barrutia was one of the pioneers who starred in the revival of the Vuelta a España.

A contemporary of Barrutia, Luis Otaño (87 years old) from Errenteria remembers that “we were friends and enemies, he at Kas and I at Fagor. We have fought a lot on the roads, but until the coronavirus we would get together to eat almost every month.

Otaño explains that “as a young man he stood out a lot, he won many races in Spain. In the Durango area he was the boss. He was a sprinter and defended himself well on the climbs. We quite agreed, although I ran for five years in France. He was six months older than me. He turned 88 in June and I will do them in January. We never shared a team, but at least he was a kind person with me, we always got along well.

Although younger, Ramón Mendiburu from San Sebastian also met Barrutia on the road. “He is remembered as the manager of the Kas, but as a runner he was good. He won stages in the Vuelta a España and fourth place in the World Cyclo-cross was very important, with that circuit in Tolosa that passed the dump. A show”.

Because if Barrutia was a cyclist who signed more than 50 victories, his time at the helm of Kas is also in the history of Basque cycling. “He started at Kas amateur,” Mendiburu recalls, “then went on to the professional team as second to Langarica and when he became manager, he joined the team with Vélez.”

Mendiburu remembers an anecdote of Barrutia in front of the Kas. «At the 1972 Vuelta, when Fuente won the stage in Formigal and took the lead, the race director, Bergareche, told him off: ‘You have sunk the Vuelta’, he blurted out, because he preferred another more renowned cyclist . A few weeks later, El Tarangu shone in the Giro and Don Luis said this: ‘In the Vuelta a star has been born’ “. Otaño also remembers that day. «Txomin Perurena was the leader and Miguel Mari Lasa, the green jersey. But the Tarangu climbed the Monrepós at 41 per hour. That Kas had many very good runners. It was Barrutia’s turn to put order. There was a lot of rooster for a henhouse ».

Barrutia was the protagonist in a cycling of other times. Like when he remembered his participation in the Tour of Andalusia in 1955. «We went from Bilbao to there by bicycle, with stops in Burgos, Madridejos, Aranjuez, Jaén, Granada and Malaga. It took us six days to arrive. We won the Vuelta and lost money. The organization gave us a diet of 225 pesetas and looked for an inn. But to get there, you had to find your life. We started with the backpack on our shoulders ». Basque cycling is in mourning.