Miguel Indurain

But as the eighties progressed, so did Indurain's strength and endurance. As he moved into the 1990s, he was now a veteran in the world of cycling and had ridden in enough Tours to know how to compete. Indurain began his string of five consecutive Tour de France victories in the 1991 race, defeating defending champion Greg LeMond of America. He stood on the podium in Paris wearing the yellow jersey.

Indurain's tall and thin body was well suited for two parts of the three main aspects of the Tour, and he used them to full advantage. He was an excellent climber when the Tour reached the mountains, and he also had tremendous speed, which helped him take many of the individual and team-time trials in the Tour (the one aspect he did not excel at, the sprints, is not a necessary requirement for being able to finish and win the Tour). In 1992, coming off a victory in the Giro d'Italia and the Spanish National Championship, Indurain repeated his Tour victory, as he would for the next three Tours. Each year he dominated the field. His fellow cyclists (and teammates) often hurt themselves as they tried to keep up with him in the mountains.