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Vuelta a España 1973

Eddy Merckx winning the Vuelta a Espana in 1973

Giro d’Italia -Vuelta a Espana double winners

Vuelta a Espana was a sping race for decades, the first autumn edition was held in 1995, and its original schedules were usually very close to Giro d’Italia. Little wonder, that the first Giro-Vuelta happened only in 1973, and the first rider to achieve it was Eddy Merkcx. (Just for the record: Fausto Coppi managed the first Giro-Tour double in 1949, and Jacques Anquetil the first Vuelta-Tour double in 1963) Also, Vuelta a Espana seemed to be like an ugly stepsibling in comparison with the other two grand tours. Some of the greatest legends of this sport, like Gino Bartali,never competed the race. (The first Vuelta a Espana was held in 1935, thus technically it… Read More »Giro d’Italia -Vuelta a Espana double winners

Eddy Merckx winning the Vuelta a Espana in 1973

Eddy Merckx’s results at Vuelta a España

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 once. The 28th edition of Vuelta Cyclista a España was held between 26 April and 13 May 1973. Merckx won six stages (3 of them were individual time trials).  He took the overall lead only after the 11th stage. The biggest rivals of Merckx were Luis Ocaña ( who that year, with the absence of Merckx would win the Tour… Read More »Eddy Merckx’s results at Vuelta a España