The Valencia Provincial Council is bringing back the history of the legendary Ferrys cycling team with the publication of a book written by Ángel Ballester, with a prologue by Juan Osés, author of numerous biographies of former figures of Spanish cycling.
The first vice president of the provincial corporation, Natàlia Enguix, closed this Wednesday the presentation of the work, which took place at the Canals House of Culture with a large attendance of neighbors and fans, including the Ferrys cyclists Jesús Roda and Manuel Trenco, as well as the daughters of Julio San Emeterio, one of the stars of the team born in Costera.
Accompanied by the mayor, Nacho Mira, and the deputy for Culture and colleague in the Provincial Council, Paco Teruel, Natàlia Enguix thanked in her speech “the tireless work of the Councillor for Sports, Edu Badal, who has dedicated many hours to promoting this recognition that we are giving to Vicente Ferri, a historic and unique character who founded the legendary cycling team that competed in the elite for many years, and who, let us not forget, was a key piece in the industrialisation of our regions with his company Géneros de Punto Ferrys”.
Enguix celebrated “the publication of a book that is part of our collective memory, and that through sport and the exploits of different generations of cyclists takes us back to a few years in which the name of our regions went around the world thanks to the sacrifice and humility of businessmen like Vicente Ferri, a native of Aielo de Malferit”. “While in Ontinyent they began to make blankets and clothes for the home, Ferrys dedicated itself to providing us with the best underwear, and to internationally disseminating the potential of our industry and the glories of our athletes”, said Enguix.
For his part, Mayor Nacho Mira assured that Canals “has always felt special pride in having had a top-level cycling team in his town.” In his opinion, the book published by the Provincial Council “allows older people to recover the memory of Ferrys and its cyclists, but it also represents an unbeatable opportunity for younger people to learn first-hand about the historical and sporting significance of the team.” promoted by Vicente Ferri.” The Culture Deputy, Paco Teruel, expressed his satisfaction with the publication of ‘Grupo Deportivo Ferrys. A history of cycling’, which has become “an essential document to know and value the sporting and business history of Canals”.
History of cycling
Much has been written about José Pérez Francés, Julio San Emeterio, Luis Otaño, Angelino Soler, Ramón Sáez or the Manzaneque brothers, legendary cyclists who competed with Anquetil, Poulidor, Gimondi, Merckx and Ocaña in Vuelta, Giro and Tour. The book published by the Provincial Council recounts the evolution of a great Spanish team born in Canals at the hands of a businessman in love with cycling, but also with cycling at any time, both elite and amateur sports.
The author of this cycling narrative is a specialist in the subject, an aficionado and scholar of historical cycling like Ángel Ballester, who is posthumously congratulated by another expert like Juan Osés, who has given biographical portraits of great cyclists such as Jesús Loroño, Bernardo Ruiz, Valentín Uriona, Agustín Tamames, Enrique Martínez Heredia and Juan Manuel Santisteban. Osés is the author of the prologue of this work distributed by the Diputació de València.
The book, “the best surprise that cycling fans and scholars have encountered this year”, according to Juan Osés, reviews the career of the great Ferrys riders; the pioneering component of Valencian cycling; the history of this tough sport in the post-war period; the references of cycling photography, from Torrents and Alguersuari to García Molina and the Galiana brothers, without forgetting Ogalla and Finezas; and of course the evolution and decline of a sports group that achieved three stage victories and a podium in the Tour and 12 stage wins and four podiums in the Vuelta a España.
