The First Great Colombian Cyclist
The name Cochise Rodriquez always had a mystical aura to it for me, from the time I first entered the racing world as a boy in 1970. One would hear him spoken of in the most respectful manner, this mysterious Colombian who had gone from his South American home to the heights of Italian professional cycling in its heyday of the 1970’s. As a now-jaded New Yorker, I’m rarely impressed by any sort of celebrity, but, as said before, meeting Cochise on this trip became an emotional moment for me.
Cochise got his nickname (according to published sources) – he was born Martín Emilio Rodríguez –, while watching the 1950 film, “Broken Arrow” a cowboys and Indian epic where found himself siding with the Apaches in the story. This led his young friends to rib him and award him the name which he gladly adopted and is now on his passport.
He’s considered the Miguel Indurain of Latin America, this large (for a Colombian) and muscular man, whose successes had him named “Colombian Athlete of the Century” in 1999. Cochise is that rare breed, the powerful time trial rider who can climb, and, which was rare at the time for South Americans, descend mountains at speed with finesse.
He began racing at home in the late 1950’s and by 1962 he was already one of the best in the country, finishing second in the Vuelta a Colombia by only eight seconds. Colombia in those days was most certainly what we would call a Third World country (I would term it an advanced country today, especially with their approach to social issues – the place exudes health) and the roads of the time reflected that stage of development, often dirt and sometimes muddy, making the races true tests of endurance. By 1964 the great Cochise had arrived, winning nine out of 19 stages (!!) in the national tour, with his overall winning margin an astonishing one-hour and four-minutes. He won the Vuelta of Colombia four-times in total, and the Vuelta al Táchira in Venezuela all three times he took the start.
Paralleling this road racing dominance was a sparkling track racing career guided by the famed Italian coach Guido Costa. Cochise loved to race against the clock, it was there he was happiest. In 1970 he set the Amateur World Hour Record (47, 553km) and in 1971 become the first-ever Latin American World Cycling Champion by winning the Individual Pursuit in Varese, Italy. I spoke with him about the win, and of course dove right into the technical aspects of the victory.
He and Costa came up with the idea of using large chainwheels and cogs for the Worlds, in order to, as he put it, make the pedal action “dolce” or soft and smooth (we spoke in Italian). They put a whopping 68 x 19 on his custom made Pogliaghi – painted up as a Benotto – and he laughed while telling me that the mechanics had to hammer in the right chainstay to get the massive chainwheel to fit. (Technical note: the 68 x 19 corresponded with a 52 x 15 which is a normal sized gear to use – well, actually for the time 50 x 15 was the norm, but this was a powerful man). Cochise was truly surprised when I informed him that he’d been 50-years ahead of his time because today, the TT specialists like Tony Martin have adopted the idea of using massive chainwheels for exactly the same reasons conceptualized by he and Costa.
Cochise was the favorite for the Pursuit at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972, but then, bureaucracy struck: a 1968 photo was found of him training with Ole Ritter, helping the Dane in his attempt at the Pro Hour Record. Ritter had lent Cochise a jersey to use, one with some publicity on it and the photo was sent to the Colombian Federation who declared him a professional. The great (please read the irony here) Avery Brundage, President of the IOC, declared him ineligible for the Games and Cochise had to, in fact, become a professional. “The executive board considered as unacceptable the participation in the Munich Olympics Games of the Colombian Rodriguez because he allowed his photograph to be used for publicity purposes and because he wore a shirt for publicity use”. Shades of Jim Thorpe, indeed.
After a dark period, Cochise was given a contract by the Bianchi team, somewhat the cycling New York Yankees of the era, as gregario to the Italian Champion Felice Gimondi. It was said that Cochise was often stronger than Gimondi in the races, but, especially in those days, no team rider was ever allowed to eclipse the heads of the racing star system. That said, Cochise was always a force in Italy and, considering that he turned pro at the ripe old age of 31, had an amazing career full of 180-kilometer breakaways, two stage wins in the Giro d’Italia and most famously, winning the season-ending Trofeo Barrachi partnered with Gimondi.
He finished out his career back in Colombia, winning his final stage in the national tour at 38-years of age before retiring and being named as Cultural Attaché to Italy by President Betancur. Today, at 77, Cochise is full of vim and vigor, flirting with the podium girls at the races, still doing 70-kilometer rides – not slow ones either – and working with the Cali-based Super Giros team at the races as their PR representative, clearly delighted to still be in the peloton atmosphere.
Cochise opened the doors to Europe and set incredible standards for the Colombians to follow. Yet for all of the successes of the current crop of superb Colombian racers, for my money, they’ve yet to come up with a rider with the combination of skills and strength represented in Cochise Martin Rodriquez, a man clearly far, far ahead of his time.