.jpg) Ruiz at the1954 Tour de France | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1925-01-08)8 January 1925 Orihuela, Spain |
| Died | 14 August 2025(2025-08-14) (aged 100) Orihuela, Spain |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder[1] |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Bernardo Ruiz Navarrete (Spanish:[beɾˈnaɾðoˈrwiθnaβaˈrete]; 8 January 1925 – 14 August 2025) was a Spanish professionalroad bicycle racer who won theoverall andclimbers competition at the 1948Vuelta a España. He went on to become the first Spaniard to take two wins in a single edition of theTour de France in1951, the first to finish on the overall podium at the Tourthe following year, and the first to win a stage of theGiro d'Italia in1955.
Ruiz was born into aCommunist Party-supporting family inOrihuela and grew up in theValencian Community: he himself was a member of thepioneer movement in Spain during his youth. After the defeat of theRepublican faction in theSpanish Civil War, his family suffered discrimination in theWhite Terror for their political views, with his father being banned from formal employment and forced to report to the local police station every two weeks. Being unable to find work, the familymilled flour and transported it with a donkey and cart toValencia to sell.[1]
One of Ruiz's older brothers was forced into theBlue Division, a Spanish Army unit which fought alongside theGerman Army on theEastern Front duringWorld War 2. He was injured by a Russiangrenade thrown at his machine gun post which killed everyone else stationed there, and received awar pension which enabled him to lend Ruiz the money to pay for his first bicycle, anAlcyon. He bought the bike to replace the family's donkey, which had died in a road accident, as a means of transport. According to Ruiz, he first competed unknowingly in a cycle race as a teenager when he came across a group of riders going in the opposite direction to him, and spontaneously decided to follow them, unaware that they were in competition. He took a breakthrough win at the Valencia regional championships, organised by theFranco regime's sole legal political party, theFET y de las JONS, whilst still a teenager. As a result of his success, the discrimination against his family ended.[1]
In 1945 Ruiz won theVolta a Catalunya, then Spain's most lucrative bike race, at the age of 20. This was his first race outside of the Valencian region, and helped to launch his professional career. That year he also made his debut in the Vuelta a España, where he came 23rd out of 26 finishers. He described the experience of riding the race as "terrifying". Three years later he took the overall classification in the race, taking the lead fromDalmacio Langarica after the latter lost time due to several punctures. Upon completion of the race, Ruiz was supposed to receive the winner's trophy fromFrancisco Franco in a ceremony at the then-newSantiago Bernabéu Stadium; however upon learning that he would have to wait three hours for a football match to be completed before the presentation, he elected to leave.[1]
In 1949, Ruiz competed in the Tour de France as part of the Spain national team. After they received abuse from Spanish Republican exiles, Ruiz and his teammates withdrew from the race on the fifth stage and left to compete in theVolta a Portugal. As a result of the withdrawal, Spain was not invited the following year; a team was sent in 1951, including Ruiz. He took two stage wins, the first for Spain since the Civil War, and finished ninth overall. In the following year's Tour, Ruiz finished third in the general classification behindFausto Coppi andStan Ockers. Ruiz later said he could not have overhauled Coppi for the win, but that he had lost out on being runner-up due to his cautious descending downMont Ventoux, which lost him four minutes to Coppi and Ockers — Ruiz stated that he was careful in his descent because he was worried about his tyres overheating.[1]
After retiring from competition, he became adirecteur sportif, including for theFaema team, where he managedFederico Bahamontes, despite the pair having previously engaged in fistfights: Ruiz stated ahead of the1960 Vuelta a España that "we mutually tolerate one another".[2]
Ruiz had to race with heavy equipment because Spain was going through a depression. Ruiz is one of the few riders to have completed all threeGrand Tours in a single season, which he did on three occasions. As of 2020 only two other riders have accomplished this more than three times. During his career he rode a total of 21Grand Tours, and completed 12 Grand Tours consecutively.[1]
Alasdair Fotheringham has described him as "an accidental pioneer for post-Civil War Spanish professional cycling", through his international success at a time whenSpain was experiencing economic hardship during the early years of the Franco era, paving the way for countrymen such as Federico Bahamontes.[1]
Ruizturned 100 on 8 January 2025,[3] and died on 14 August of the same year.[4]
OverallVolta a Catalunya
Road race, National Road Championships
OverallVuelta a BurgosRoad race, National Road Championships
OverallVuelta a España
Mountains classificationRoad race, National Road Championships
OverallVuelta a Castilla OverallVuelta a Asturias OverallVuelta a Levante| Grand Tour | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 / Vuelta a España | 22 | 13 | — | 1 | NH | 4 | Not held | 14 | 31 | 3 | 26 | |||
 Giro d'Italia | NH | — | — | — | — | — | — | 35 | 29 | 38 | 28 | 38 | 55 | — |
| Tour de France | Not held | — | — | DNF | — | 9 | 3 | — | 18 | 22 | 70 | 24 | 55 | |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| NH | Not Held |
