Joaquim Agostinho

Joaquim Francisco Fernandes Agostinho, OIH (7 April 1943 – 10 May 1984) was a Portuguese professional bicycle racer. He was champion of Portugal in six successive years. He rode the Tour de France 13 times and finished all but once, winning on Alpe d'Huez in 1979, and finishing third twice. All total he finished in the top 10 of a Grand Tour eleven times, made three podiums and won a total of seven stages between the Vuelta and Tour.

Youth Agostinho was born in a small village,

Racing career

Joaquim Agostinho started racing as an amateur at the age of 25 years in some Portuguese races, wearing some borrowed cycling wear lent by João Roque. After winning some races, Agostinho signed a professional contract with Sporting Clube de Portugal. Then, when racing with the Sporting Clube de Portugal cycling team in São Paulo, Agostinho – a rider "of average height but with the build of a rhinoceros", according to the historian Pierre Chany They met in Brazil in 1968, when Agostinho won the Tour de São Paulo. and came 16th after initiating the move which brought victory for the Italian, Vittorio Adorni. De Gribaldy and Agostinho became lifelong friends. De Gribaldy said in 1980:

"At the end of my life, if I had to recall a single place in the world, I wouldn't hesitate long. I would choose the little Brazilian hotel, insignificant, discreet, in São Paulo, where I had arranged to meet Joaquim. It was in 1968. I had noticed him two months earlier at Imola, at the world championship, but it was in São Paulo that I spoke to him for the first time. I asked him simply: 'Do you want to come and race in France?' He didn't know a word of French but in his smile I understood immediately what he was trying to answer. What a long way we went together afterwards. What memories we created together."

De Gribaldy asked him to join his Frimatic team in France, promising a ride in the 1969 Tour de France.

Pierre Martin said in International Cycle Sport: He was a man of strange contradictions. Built like a sprinter, he was no good at sprinting. He was one of the great climbers. Eddy Merckx said in 1969, the year when he and Agostinho made their debuts in the Tour de France, that Agostinho was the rival who worried him most, indeed the only rival who had worried him at all." and 1973,

Death Agostinho was leading the Tour of the Algarve at Quarteira in April 1984 when a dog ran into the road a few hundred metres before the finish. Agostinho hit it and fell to the ground, hitting his head. He remounted and crossed the line accompanied by other riders. He was dazed but seemed otherwise unhurt. He walked to an ambulance, holding his head. In 1984 Agostinho was made an Officer of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator, by then President of Portugal Ramalho Eanes.

1968 National Road Championships

2nd Overall Volta a Portugal 1969 National Road Championships

1st Trofeo Baracchi (with Herman Van Springel) 1st Stage 4b Tour de Luxembourg (ITT) 5th Overall À travers Lausanne 5th Grand Prix des Nations 7th Overall Volta a Portugal 8th Overall Tour de France 1st Stages 5 & 14 1970 National Road Championships

1st Overall Volta a Portugal 1st Stages 8a, 14a, 14b (ITT) & 16b 1st Stage 1a Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc 3rd Overall Trophée d'Europe de la Montagne 6th Overall Vuelta a Mallorca 1971 National Road Championships

1st Overall Volta a Portugal 1st Stages 1, 2a, 4b, 7b, 11a, 12, 13a, 16b (ITT) 1st Overall GP de Sintra 1st Stages 1a & 1b 3rd Overall À travers Lausanne 5th Overall Tour de France 6th Baden-Baden 1972 National Road Championships

1st Overall Volta a Portugal 1st Stages 8, 10, 13, 17 & 24 (ITT) 1st Overall GP de Sintra 1st Stage 2 5th Overall Tour de Suisse 1st Stages 3 (ITT) & 8b (ITT) 8th Overall Tour de France 1973 National Road Championships

Volta a Portugal 1st Prologue & Stages 3b, 5, 9a (ITT), 10, 11b, 15 5th Overall GP du Midi-Libre 5th Subida a Arrate 6th Overall Vuelta a España 8th Overall Tour de France 1st Stage 16b (ITT) 1974 2nd Overall Vuelta a España 1st Stages 14 & 19b (ITT) 3rd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 6th Overall Tour de France 7th Overall GP du Midi-Libre 1975 3rd Overall Tour de l'Aude 1976 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country 3rd Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc 6th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 7th Overall Vuelta a España 1st Stage 6 (ITT) Held after Stages 6-8 & 15-16 1977 1st Stage 18 Tour de France Vuelta a los Valles Mineros 1st Stages 3a & 3b 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 4th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 7th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 1978 3rd Overall Tour de France 3rd Overall Tour de Corse 1979 2nd Overall GP du Midi-Libre 1st Stage 2 3rd Overall Tour de France 1st Stage 17 6th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 1980 2nd Overall GP du Midi-Libre 3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 3rd Overall 4 Jours de Dunkerque 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc 3rd Overall Tour de Corse 3rd Bordeaux–Paris 4th GP Eddy Merckx 5th Overall Tour de France 1981 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 5th Overall Tour de Romandie 1984 1st Stage 3 Volta ao Algarve

Grand Tour results