Pedro Torres

Pedro Torres Cruces (born 27 April 1949 in Humilladero) is a Spanish former road bicycle racer. He was a GC contender in Grand Tours.

His first was the 1972 Vuelta. In the following year he placed 5th overall in the Vuelta and won the King of the Mountains competition, as well as a stage in the 1973 Tour de France. Late in the year at the World Championships he finished 6th.

In 1975 he took a top 10 in the Volta a Catalunya and then in the Vuelta he came up just short of winning the King of the Mountains while finishing 14th overall. In the Tour he finished 10th while taking a 4th place at the World Championships. In 1976 he started with another top 10 in the Volta a Catalunya, finished 9th in the 1976 Vuelta a España and just inside the top 20 in the Tour.

He began 1977 with another top 10 in the Volta a Catalunya and had a very strong performance in the 77 Vuelta winning stage 15, winning the King of the Mountains and finishing top 10 overall. He then rode the 1977 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and finished top 10 in a race that included Hinault, Merckx, Zoetemelk, Van Impe, Agostinho, Danguillaume and Thévenet. In the Tour he had his worst finish to date coming in just inside the top 20.^[1]

In 1978 he started off the year with a podium placing in the Volta a Catalunya. He also skipped the 78 Vuelta in favor of riding Paris–Nice and the Giro d'Italia for the first time. In the Giro he took two top 5 stage finishes en route to a top 20 finish. In 1979 he had another top 5 in the Volta a Catalunya, rode the Tour de Suisse for the first time and returned to the Vuelta where he finished 6th.

The 1980 Vuelta a España was the final Vuelta of his career as well as his strongest performance. He finished on the stage podium in each of the ITT's and finished in 2nd place overall. The 1980 Tour de France was his 15th and final grand tour. Nearly his entire team abandoned the race with only Jorge Fortia and Vicente Belda finishing with him.^[2]