Miguel Induráin grew up working on a farm in the countryside of Spain. This early training paid off when it came time to begin his career in one of the most physically demanding sports in the world--long-distance bicycle racing. Despite early disappointments, Induráin kept working and eventually won the most important bicycle race in the world--the Tour de France--four years in a row. A national hero in Spain, Induráin has achieved his success through single-minded devotion to his sport.

Miguel Angel Induráin-Larraya was born July 16, 1964, in Villava, Navarre Province, Spain. He grew up with his brother and three sisters on the family farm. Induráin would probably have taken over the farming business from his father had he not become a bicycle racer. "It's [cycling is] a way of getting out of a certain environment," he told Bicycling magazine...