He had the same nickname as his father and grandfather, which was "El Tarangu", a word in the Asturian language for a man reputed for his strength and character.

He was a two-time winner of the Vuelta a España and won four consecutive climbers classification (or King of the Mountains) at the Giro d'Italia.

Several weeks later, in the 1972 Giro d'Italia, Fuente had a great battle with Eddy Merckx.

Fuente took the pink jersey as leader of the general classification early on in the race but Merckx took it back.

After retirement he opened a successful cycle business in Oviedo and in 1988 was appointed directeur sportif of the CLAS team.