FORMER professional cyclist and later Paralympic medallist Javier Otxoa has died at his home in Alhaurín de la Torre (Málaga province) just six days before his 44th birthday.
His funeral was today (Saturday) at 12.30, and the Spanish Adapted Cycling Cup national tournament, which bears his name and was due to be held in Javier's home town on September 2 has been cancelled as a mark of respect.
Otxoa, born in Barakaldo in the Basque Country in 1974, was not a Paralympic cyclist until 17 years ago; until then, he was a professional in mainstream cycling.
He won a stage of the 2000 Tour de France, flying to victory at the peak of the Hautacam mountain some 10 minutes ahead of Lance Armstrong – who went on to win the Tour but was later disqualified for doping.
Javier's stunning victory flung him and his team, Kelme-Costa Blanca, into the spotlight and made both of them a household name.
But his euphoria was short-lived when he and his twin brother Ricardo Otxoa, also an up-and-coming professional and Kelme-Costa Blanca rider, were hit by a car in February 2001 on the Málaga-Cártama motorway whilst training.
Ricardo was killed outright and Javier left disabled as a result of damage to his brain.
Javier was in a coma for 62 days with a crushed lung and four smashed vertebrae, and until he woke up, he was not expected to survive – in fact, his parents had reserved a niche next to Ricardo's in the cemetery in Barakaldo after doctors had told them there was practically no hope.
According to the twins' brother Andoni, the family was told if Javier woke up, he would be 'like a vegetable'.
He was not, although his personality changed – he was less emotional, no longer cried, was more distant, spoke 'in cold blood' about his brother as though 'he was not willing to let Ricardo's death affect him', could not remember the accident and, although his memory of before the tragedy was intact, he 'would not remember what he had done the day before', Andoni said.
Javier's road to recovery was long and difficult – at first, he was unable to speak, and would blink twice for 'no' and once for 'yes' when the family spoke to him; in fact, when he first smiled, they were ecstatic at his progress.
The 26-year-old's long rehabilitation took place at the Aita Menni Centre in Málaga, but he would never completely recover.
Yet even this did not keep the national sporting hero off his bike: he went on to win a silver and a gold at the Paralympics in Athens in 2004 and the same again in Peking 2008.
Javier spoke out publicly as part of a national campaign calling for driver awareness of cyclists after half of a six-strong triathlon team from Jávea (Alicante province) was killed on the N-332 highway in Oliva (Valencia province) on May 7, 2017 – a crash that left another two of the team, including the son of one of the deceased, so badly battered that they are still undergoing intense physiotherapy and are not yet able to ride again.
The driver, Mavi Sánchez, now 29, from Gandia (Valencia province) had taken cocaine and been drinking alcohol in large quantities until right before getting behind the wheel – although after a year in custody, she was released pending trial.
Javier joined the nationwide awareness campaign in his brother Ricardo's memory.
He had been living at his parents' home in Alhaurín de la Torre on and off before the accident in 2001, after which he moved in with them permanently so they could be on hand to help him with his disability.
The Vuelta a España – Spain's version of the Tour de France – set off from Málaga on the day of Javier's death, and a reporter in sports newspaper As says it 'looked as though he was waiting' for the competition to head his way before he passed away, 'so he could be surrounded by bikes'.
His death has been described as 'the result of a long illness', but the actual cause, and whether or not it was related to his ordeal 17 years ago, has not been confirmed.
