It was in 1999 one of the last times in which the Vuelta, so rare in its appearances, was seen by Barcelona, or rather only by Montjuïc. And, my goodness, the one she got involved with on a Sunday, September 19, when it started to rain, but it really did rain and the drums proclaiming a strike for one day sounded in the back room of the platoon. The stage, in a Spanish round that in the end won Jan Ullrichhe went to make fists.
In 1999 everything was different from today because the Vuelta was always run under the baton of Jose Maria Garcia that he was a kind of shadow director in charge of his radio station, of the news bulletins, of the direct connections with the cars of the sports directors, except for the one of José Miguel Echávarriso many times technician of Miguel Indurain y Peter Delgado, and not a fly moved by the race but it was with the permission of the veteran journalist.
the worry
García I was worried about the start and finish of the race, in Montjuïc. The descents were dangerous, high risk of falling on the wet road, and the runners did not want to risk it. He had to cancel the stage yes or yes. Directors meeting before departure; discussions between those who wanted to return to the hotel or start the transfer to Tortosa, those who wanted to at least celebrate a kind of quiet and risk-free cycling tour and the few who had decided to risk their skins, that cycling is a sport for the brave, for heroes and that if it rains, unfortunately, you get wet.
Garcia, very nervous. “Something has to be done!” He kept shouting. He spoke with other journalists, with the organization, with the judges, with the teams and with whoever was needed. He had to run yes or yes. And he got it. They left so and so slowly that any minimally trained fan would have kept up with the pace of the competition with little difficulty.
A complete fiasco
The 1999 stage was a pantomime, a complete fiasco, a total bore. Hours to know that nothing at all was going to happen and a disgrace for a city, Barcelona, which is now preparing to host more than just one stage, thanks to becoming the great start of this year’s Spanish round.
No one of the riders who competed in that Vuelta is still active. García he decided to retire from active journalism shortly thereafter. He returned to La Vuelta just one more time, as a tourist, but without his station, without his daily program, without the nightly games of mus, with nothing to do, he was as bored as any mortal.
Without him, the informative bulletins with the news of the Vuelta went to the background, the motorcycles that told the live of the stage and even the flight of the very expensive helicopters disappeared. But there was freedom of action and a race that was disputed far from radio interests.
2023-08-24 19:37:59
#Tour #Spain #memory #Barcelona #strike #Vuelta
