All You Need to Know about the Vuelta a España

The Vuelta a España is Spain's most important race and one of the three grand tours in cycling.

It’s one of the three grand tours in international cycling as well as being the youngest, only beginning in 1935. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the Vuelta a España.

A brief history of the Vuelta a España

The Vuelta a España consists of several stages around Spain and, along with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, is one of the most important road cycling competitions in the world.

Although there were national races in the early 1930s, the Vuelta officially began in 1935. That year, a cyclist and journalist named Clemente López Dóriga and the director of the Informaciones newspaper, Juan Pujol, decided to organize a competition between Madrid and Valladolid, with 14 stages over a little more than 2,100 miles.

The first winner of the Tour of Spain was the Belgian, Gustaaf Deloor.

The fledgling competition had to be suspended four times between the 1930s and 1950s. The first time was between 1937 and 1940 because of the Spanish Civil War. Then it was suspended again because of the Second World War (1943-1944). The third and fourth times happened because of the situation in Spain in 1949 and from 1951 to 1954.

Since 1955, the Vuelta a España has been held every year and the competition’s prestige has grown. In the 60s, it became part of the select group of ‘Grand Tours’. This along with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia.

The 1980s was a great decade for the Vuelta, although it suffered its first doping scandal. The Lakes of Covadonga were added as a final stage in 1983, and in 1984, the race’s highest point was named after Alberto Fernández, a cyclist who died in a traffic accident.

Although most of the winning cyclists have been Spanish (32), in recent years, athletes from Slovenia, England, Colombia, Italy, and the United States have all taken first place. Spaniards, Roberto Heras, and Delio Rodríguez have the most victories (4) and the most stage wins (39) respectively.

Race features

The starting and finishing points have changed many times throughout the race’s history. The first editions started and finished in Madrid. However, from 1955, the race either started or finished in other cities such as Bilbao, Gijón, San Sebastián, Barcelona, ​​Benidorm, Vigo, Murcia, and Zaragoza.

Like the other tours, the Vuelta a España uses jerseys to recognize the race or stage leader. The color of the jersey has changed many times over the race’s history.

Since 2010, the color code has been as follows:

• Red jersey and leggings are for the leader in the general classification.
• Blue polka dot jersey is for the best climber.
• The green jersey is for the points leader.
• A white jersey is for the ‘best all-rounder’.

The latest edition

The most recent Vuelta a España was the 74th and took place between August 24 and September 15, 2019. It had a total of 21 stages over 2,033 miles and started in Salinas de Torrevieja.

The winner on that occasion was the Slovenian, Primoz Roglic and the Spaniard, Alejandro Valverde came second.

In the following stages, the vuelta passed through: Benidorm, Calpe, Alicante, Cullera, El Puig, L’eliana, Mora de Rubielos, Ares del Maestrat, Onda, Valls, Igualada, Andorra la Vella, Cortals d’encamp, Pau, Jurancon, Saint Palais, Urdax-Dantxarinea, Navarra, Bilbao, San Vicente de la Barquera, Oviedo, Tineo, Pravia, Burgos, Aranda de Duero, Guadalajara, Becerril de la Sierra, Ávila, Toledo, Arenas de San Pedro, Fuenlabrada and Madrid.