Unlike the other two grand tours with a history started before the first world war, the first Vuelta a Espana was held in 1935. It was a spring race until the 1990s, right before (or sometimes almost at the same time as) the Giro d’Italia. Also, for almost two decades, it was really unpredictable, when … Read more
Vuelta Ciclista a España (or just La Vuelta), the third three-week race of the road cycling season is also the youngest grand tour. The first edition was held in 1935. The race started on 29th April, included 14 stages and finished on the 15th of May. Only 50 cyclists entered the event and 29 finished. … Read more
For the first time in the history of Vuelta a Espana, the colour of the leader jersey was red. The 5th edition of Vuelta a Espana was organized by the newspaper Ya. From the 52 participants, 8 cyclists came from Portugal, all the others were Spaniards. Point classification, sponsored by Pirelly, was itroduced to the … Read more
Vuelta a Espana was not organized for several years after the first two editions in 1935 and 1936. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) made it impossible. Thus the 3rd edition of the youngest grand tour was held between 12 June and 6 July in 1941. Middle in the Second World War (quick reminder: Operation Barbarossa, … Read more
The 4th Vuelta a España was held between 30 June and 19 July 1942 It was 3688 km long, divided into 17 stages. Belgian, French and Italian riders were invited despite the ongoing 2nd World War. The race was posponed by a week, because the foreign cyclists haven’t arrived in time. Julián Berrendero won the … Read more
After the years of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the 3rd Vuelta a España was held between 12 June and 6 July 1941. Due to the World War II, only Spanish and Swiss riders participated. From 32 starters (28 Spanish, 4 Swiss) only 16 finished the race. Julián Berrendero, the winner of the general classification, … Read more
Continuing the “5 facts of…” series on PelotonTales blog, let’s see the most important or interesting things about Vuelta a España 1936. The 2nd Vuelta a España was held between 5 and 31 May 1936. It was 4354 km long, divided into 21 stages. The average speed was 29 km/h. Spanish riders wore grey jerseys, … Read more
Eddy Merckx rode Vuelta a España only once during his extremely successful carreer, in 1973. He won the race, managed to achieve the first ever Vuelta-Giro double in the history of road cycling races, also became the third cyclist after Jacques Anquetil and Felice Gimondi, who has won all the three grand tours at least … Read more
The first Vuelta a España was held between 29 April and 15 May 1935. It was 3425 km long, divided into 14 stages. 50 cyclists started and 29 finished the race. Gustaaf Deloor was the winner of the edition. The average speed was 28,54 km/h. Discover the history of Vuelta Cyclista a España with PelotonTales! … Read more