out of sixty-nine. He competed in more races in Madrid and elsewhere in Spain before moving to Barcelona, the wealthiest city in Spain. 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. Due to financial reasons, the Vuelta a España did not run between 1951 and 1954, so the Volta a Catalunya was the biggest race in Spain. It was there, in 1953, that Bahamontes won the King of the Mountains. The race received coverage in Mundo Deportivo, a Catalan sports newspaper, as well as having the support of fourteen sponsors. Teams from across Europe competed, with Bahamontes racing for a team directed by Mostajo and sponsored by Balanzas Berkel, a manufacturer of weighing equipment. He performed above expectations, managing a solo breakaway on stage 8 to secure his mountain classification jersey. 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." He initially declined, stating that he did not know French and "had no suitcase", but later accepted the offer with a few weeks to go after discussing with his parents. The Spanish team included 1948 Vuelta a España winner Bernardo Ruiz, former national champion Francisco Masip, and 1953 Volta a Catalunya winner Salvador Botella. The first half of the race was relaxed for Bahamontes, until stage eleven where he broke away from the peloton and went over the Col d'Aubisque in first place. It was on the fog-covered descent, however, that he crashed, eventually finishing thirty-second. Bahamontes continued to score well in the mountain classifications; he was first over the Col du Tourmalet and Col de Peyresourde. It was the Col du Galibier, however, that was the most important; Bahamontes rode down Jean Dotto to finish the climb in first place, thus winning a 100,000 franc (roughly $250 in 2021) prize as well as mountain points which secured him the mountain classification victory. He finished 25th in the General classification. The next year, Bahamontes competed at the 1955 Vuelta a España. 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. The race did not go well for Bahamontes; during stage five, he got a "twisted tendon" in his