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.
Due to the rainy weather, the Belgian riders were expected to have the best result. Indeed, the Belgian Gustaaf Deloor took the lead in the 3rd stage and kept it until the end of the race in Madrid.
Gustaaf Deloor ( 1913-2002)
the Belgian rider, who has won also the second edition of the Vuelta a España, was a professional cyclist between 1932 and 1939. As a soldier of the Belgian Army, he was captured when Germany invaded the country in 1940.
After returning home from the prisoner camp, he decided to move to USA and start a new life. He worked for an aeronautical engineering firm in the development and design of the ramjet engine for NASA that was used on the Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket.
Deloor returned to Belgium in 1980 and died in 2002.
Gustaaf Deloor competed not only the Vuelta, where he also won 6 stages (3 in 1935 and 3 in 1936), but rode the Tour de France in 1937, when he won the 6th stage. He also finished Liege-Bastogne-Liege second that year.
His brother, Alfons Deloor (winner of Liege-Bastogne-Liege 1938) was also a professional rider.