The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual multi-stage road cycling race primarily held in Spain. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the race was first organised in 1935. The race was prevented from being run by the Spanish Civil War and World War II in the early years of its existence; however, the race has been held annually since 1955. As the Vuelta gained prestige and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend all around the globe. Since 1979, the event has been staged and managed by Unipublic, until in 2014, when the Amaury Sport Organisation acquired control. Since then, they have been working together. The peloton expanded from a primarily Spanish participation to include riders from all over the world. The Vuelta is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the wild card teams that the organizers can invite.
Along with the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta is one of cycling's prestigious Grand Tours. First held in 1935 and annually since 1955, the Vuelta runs for three weeks in a changing route across Spain. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same, with the appearance of at least two time trials, the passage through the mountain chain of the Pyrenees or the Cantabrian Mountains, and the finish in the Spanish capital Madrid. The modern editions of the Vuelta a España consist of 21 day-long stages over a 23-day period that includes 2 rest days.
It was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in the 1940s. In 1995, however, the race moved to September to avoid direct competition with the Giro d'Italia, held in May. As a result, the Vuelta is now often seen as an important preparation for the World Championships, which moved to October the same year. However, starting in 2023 this is no longer the case as every fourth year the Worlds will now be held in August. A Vuelta was also organized in August and September 1950. The race now usually starts in late August, but the 2020 race started in October due to a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
All of the stages are timed to the finish; after finishing, the riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race and gets to don the red jersey. While the general classification garners the most attention, there are, or have been, other contests held within the Vuelta: the points classification for the sprinters, the mountains classification for the climbers, the combination classification for the all-round riders, and the team classification for the competing teams.
La Vuelta Femenina, a women's edition of the race, was first held in 2023, part of the UCI Women's World Tour. This follows smaller races staged in conjunction with the Vuelta between 2015 and 2022.
History Origins The first races in Spain were run at the national level and were promoted by the bicycle manufacturers from Eibar. Consequently, the tour was Eibar– Madrid– Eibar, and called the Grand Prix of the Republic.
1935–1960
In early 1935, former cyclist Clemente López Doriga, in collaboration with Juan Pujol, director of the daily newspaper Informaciones, organized the Vuelta a España, The inaugural event saw 50 entrants face a 3,411km (2,119mi) course over only 14 stages, averaging over 240km (149mi) per stage. It was inspired by the success of the Tours in France and Italy, and the boost they brought to the circulations of their sponsoring newspapers (L'Auto and La Gazzetta dello Sport respectively); Pujol of instigated the race to increase Informacioness circulation.
The first stage took the riders from Madrid to Valladolid. That year saw the first great duel in the history of the Vuelta, between Belgium's Gustaaf Deloor, who ultimately won, and Mariano Cañardo, Spanish runner-up.
The second edition of the Vuelta, finally held despite the delicate political situation, was also marked by the Deloor repeat, who this time held the lead from the first day to the last. The 1936 edition remains the longest winning finish time of the Vuelta in 150:07:54, the race consisted of 22 stages with a total length of 4,407km. Gustaaf finished first and his older brother Alfons finished second overall.
After the first two editions, the Spanish race suffered a hiatus because of the Spanish Civil War.
In 1941, the Vuelta resumed competition with an almost entirely Spanish peloton and very little foreign representation. That year the first time trial was held in the Vuelta. Julián Berrendero was proclaimed the winner, and he recaptured the title the next year. In addition, Berrendero was King of the Mountains for three consecutive years.
With World War II and the precarious economic situation, there was another break in the running of the Vuelta a España.
In 1945, the Journal took over organization of the race and competition resumed, although again with few foreign competitors in the peloton. On this occasion, Delio Rodríguez took the final victory. That year also introduced the points classification, but this was not stable until 1955. Four editions were run until 1950.
Subsequently, there was no Vuelta until 1955, when it was organized by the Basque newspaper El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco. Since then, the Vuelta a España has been run annually. At this time, the Vuelta is run routinely in August and September, but it was previously run in April and May. Another difference was the number of participants. Previously, there were very few, but the number doubled, with more internationally recognized competitors.
1960–1970
The prestige of the Vuelta increased, with more stars from the international cycling scene. During the late 1950s came the first successes in the overall standings of Italian and French riders. In the 1960s, they would also be joined by German and Dutch riders. In 1963, Jacques Anquetil won the general classification, establishing himself as the first rider to win all three Grand Tours. Five years later, in 1968, Felice Gimondi would do the same.
Antonio Karmany dominated the mountain classification for three consecutive years, then was replaced by Julio Jiménez, who won it for another three years.
In 1965, Rik Van Looy became the first rider to repeat victory in the points classification. Jan Janssen in 1968 and 1974 Domingo Perurena would do the same, winning this classification twice.
During the mid-1960s the organizer of the Vuelta, El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco, went through some financial problems that endangered the running of the competition. However, during that time all editions ended normally. In 1968, the Vuelta was hit by a terrorist attack and other events, having to cancel the 15th stage. There were no fatalities.
1970–1980
The 1970s began with the triumph of Luis Ocaña, who was already established in the international squad as one of the greats of cycling.
José Manuel Fuente, with victories in 1972 and 1974, became the third rider to win two Tours of Spain. A few years later, Bernard Hinault repeated the feat, which was also achieved by Pedro Delgado during the 1980s.
In 1973, Eddy Merckx won the Vuelta by a landslide, winning six stages and all individual classifications with the exception of the mountains competition: he finished second.
Freddy Maertens in 1977 echoed a similar domination to that demonstrated by Merckx a few years earlier, by winning thirteen stages and all individual classifications except the mountain.
In the mid-1970s, Andrés Oliva managed to earn the King of the Mountains title in three editions of the Vuelta.
Frenchman Bernard Hinault emerged in 1978 as an international cycling star. The same year, Hinault won his first Tour de France. The last stage of that edition also had to be suspended because of riots and barricades that prevented the normal course of it.
When 1979 El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco left as a sponsor of the race, the Vuelta was once again endangered. However, the company Unipublic took charge of the competition. This, coupled with increased advertising and the beginning of the broadcasts via television, further grew revenue and interest in the Vuelta.
1980–1990
In the early 1980s, two names stood out in the secondary classifications: José Luis Laguía, who won the mountain classification five times, and Sean Kelly, who won four times in the points classification.
In 1982 came the first case of disqualification of the winner for doping. Two days after the end of the competition, Ángel Arroyo and a few other riders were disqualified, and Arroyo lost his victory to Marino Lejarreta. Arroyo appealed for a B test of his sample, which again tested positive. Arroyo was given a ten-minute penalty, and ultimately ended up placing thirteenth in the general classification.
Next year's edition was the first appearance of the Lagos de Covadonga as a final stage, an ascent that would become, over the years, the most iconic climb of the Vuelta a España. In 1984 it played the issue in a race that ended with the smallest difference between the first and second place. Éric Caritoux, a complete unknown until then, managed to win the Vuelta with only six seconds ahead of Alberto Fernández in second place.
The end of the 1980s was marked by the rise of Colombian cycling, which presented a strong challenge particularly in the mountain stages. Names such as Lucho Herrera (winner in 1987) or Fabio Parra (2nd in 1989) appeared in the last editions of the decade. One of the rulers at that time was also Pedro Delgado, with two victories (1985 and 1989), a second place, and two third-place finishes. In the 1988 edition, the start took place in the Canary Islands with 3 stages. The race was won by Irishman Sean Kelly, his only overall victory in a Grand Tour.
1990–2000
The first half of the 1990s was marked by the dominance of Swiss rider Tony Rominger, the first rider to win three times and win the race consecutively between 1992 and 1994.
The fiftieth edition of the Vuelta, which was held in 1995, coincided with the change of dates. The Vuelta a España came to be held in September, and near the end of the season as the last of the three Grand Tours of the year. This was done to attract more high-profile riders, who before had preferred to ride the Giro d'Italia or the Tour de France, which both took place very closely to the Vuelta's timeslot. That year Laurent Jalabert won all classifications, the second time this happened in the Vuelta (Rominger had done so in 1993). The Frenchman was also a four-time winner of the points classification, matching the previous record set by Sean Kelly in the 1980s.
In 1997, the tour started for the first time in a foreign country. They began in Lisbon, on the occasion of Expo '98.
The ascent of the Alto de L'Angliru was part of a stage for the first time in 1999, with the victory of José María Jiménez, four-time winner of the mountains classification. The reputation of the climb grew rapidly because of its demanding nature.
2000–2010