Pedro Delgado

Pedro Delgado

Pedro Delgado Robledo (born April 15, 1960 in Segovia), also known as Perico, is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France after testing positive for a masking agent, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989. "

Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5 ft 7-1/2 in) and used to weigh 64 kilograms (141 lb). He was a good climber, with an aggressive style, making cycling a spectacle, which gained him fans. On one hand, there were days when he was extremely successful attacking. On the other, he occasionally suffered from big losses of time due to mistakes or strokes of bad luck. He was also a good time-trialist until the nineties, when it became difficult for him to adapt to technical changes in the time-trial bicycles.

The ending of the 1987 Tour de France and the 1985 Vuelta a España and the whole 1989 Tour are among his more memorable participations in major competitions. Delgado is most remembered, however, for testing positive for the known masking agent, probenecid, during the 1988 tour. Delgado was allowed to continue racing and was not charged with any doping offence; an action that cost ASO director Xavier Louy his job. Probenecid, which is only used to treat gout or hide steroid use, was added to the UCI's list of banned substances one month after the tour. For this Delgado will always be remembered as a drug cheat, despite not technically breaking any rule at the time.

He works now as a sports commentator for Televisión Española during important cycling events.