Following his retirement, Bahamontes ran a bicycle and motorcycle shop and was named the best climber in the history of the Tour de France by a panel organised by L'Équipe in 2013.

He was named after his uncle, Federico, who was the head of the family and proclaimed that Bahamontes would be called after him at the baptism in the local church.

He managed to escape this service, but when he returned home, he found soldiers who "called themselves Communists" and ordered him to open the storehouses on the estate where the family lived.

[4] Meanwhile, Bahamontes, along with his mother and sisters, escaped to the village of Villarrubia de Santiago due to the intensifying air raids in Madrid.

[6] In 1946, at the age of 18, Bahamontes bought his first bike for 150 pesetas (roughly equivalent to £250 or US$342.47 in 2014) in order to transport food illegally between villages.

On 18 July 1947, he cycled to a nearby village where the race began and, with only a banana and lemon as sustenance, he managed to finish second.

It was here that he received backing from Santiago Mostajo Trigo, a former cyclist and businessman who was a "hugely influential figure" in Spanish cycling.

[17] He performed above expectations, managing a 146 kilometres (91 mi) solo breakaway on stage 8 to secure his mountain classification jersey.

[18] The director of the Spanish team, Julián Berrendero, picked Bahamontes for the 1954 Tour de France in the summer of 1953, with instructions to "try to win it".

[25] He gained the nickname el Gitano (the gypsy) when he started to sell bike parts to other riders he had bought from factories in France.

[29] Despite the success, a medical examination before the Tour de France prevented him from competing and he was replaced by national champion Antonio Gelabert.

[31] In the 1959 Tour de France, Bahamontes benefited from an early escape on a stage in the Pyrenees, and then won a mountain time trial to the Puy-de-Dôme.

This allowed Anquetil to use his advantage in the time trial to overcome his deficit and claim a fourth Tour victory, while Bahamontes finished second.

[34] A year later, in the 1964 Tour de France, Anquetil took his fifth victory and the margin over Bahamontes in third was 4:44; Raymond Poulidor took second place.

On his final stage, he made one last attack on the Col de Portet d'Aspet, in his own words "to show them [the audience] what they would be missing".

[36] Following his retirement, Bahamontes opened a bicycle and motorcycle shop in Toledo and offered to lead visitors through a museum dedicated to his career.

[37] In 2013, during his 85th birthday that coincided with the 100th edition of Le Tour de France, he was named the best climber in the history of the race, ahead of French rider Richard Virenque, by a jury selected by L' Équipe newspaper.