Perico Delgado won the Tour de France in 1988 and was one of the references of world cycling in the eighties and early nineties. He has just published the book 'La soledad de Perico', in which he reviews his entire professional career.
In it, he talks about the obsession to lose weight among the international peloton teams of the time. That obsession led them not to take medication. "I remember that in my time we had a sore knee and they told you that you couldn't take anything, a cold that would kill you and nothing, a leg like a bowl and nothing...."
"And you were a lot of days without being able to heal. Today there are so many technological aspects that the cyclist does not enjoy. They become obsessed with weight. You hear them say, 'I have to lose 100 grams.' Even if they're in their bones. What if you're hungry? Fuck you," Perico said.
During the races, however, Miguel Indurain's former teammate at Banesto did not deprive himself of good food to ensure that he would not lack energy during the races. His breakfasts were spectacular: "I have never been hungry as a cyclist. So you ate well, as if to say. There are 200 kilometers of race and maybe I won't make it," he justifies.
"I'll tell you what I had for breakfast: a two-egg omelet, a big steak, a plate of macaroni or rice, and then you finished it off with toast, muffins and coffee with milk," the Spanish legend reveals. "You do that now and they throw you out. You get fattened up like that and they would say: Hey, we are not going to kill you like a pig, you have come to pedal...".