Miguel Indurain was the fourth man, after Jacques Anquetil , Eddy Merckx , and Bernard Hinault, to win the Tour de France five times, but Indurain went further with five consecutive wins from 1991-95, although this was broken by Lance Armstrong who won seven consecutive from 1999-2005, although those were voided after Armstrong’s well-publicized doping admissions. Indurain also won the Giro d’Italia in 1992-93, winning the Tour-Giro double both years, a feat that had been accomplished at the time by Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Fausto Coppi, and Stephen Roche (since accomplished by Marco Pantini in 1998). Indurain’s strength was as a time trialist, and most of his stage race wins were built by his dominance in the time trial, and he won only two Tour races in non-time trial stages. But he was also an excellent climber, who was rarely dropped in the Alps or Pyrenees. He was one of the larger riders in the professional peloton at 188 cm (6-2), which brought him the nickname “Big Mig” or “Miguelon”.

Indurain first came to prominence when he won the Tour de l’Avenir in 1986. In 1989 he won Paris-Nice and the Criterium Internationale, repeating his Paris-Nice victory in 1990 as well as winning the Clasica de San Sebastian that year. Indurain also set the World Hour Record in 1994, riding 53.040 km. He later won Dauphine-Libere in 1995-96 and Midi-Libre in 1995, also winning the World Championship that year in the individual time trial. At the 1996 Olympic Games, Indurain added a gold medal in the individual time trial, in the first year that Olympic cycling was open to professionals. He retired after the 1996 season.