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, the German attack against the Soviet Union started on 22 June 1941), the race was competed only by Spanish and Swiss riders. More precisely: from the 32 participants, 28 cyclists were from Spain and only 4 from Switzerland. (Later editions during World War Two have only slightly better: in 1942, there were also some Belgian, Italian ans French riders in the peloton.)
No wonder, that all the 21 stages were won by Spanish cyclists.
However, even Spanish riders were far from their best form. Julián Berrendero, the winner of this edition just came back from a Francoist concentration camp after being held there for 18 months.
Nevertheless, from the 21 stages, Delio Rodriguez won 12. This is proved to be a record for eternity. A few years later, in 1945, Rodriguez also won the general classification. He participated only five editions (between 1941 and 1947) but still managed to win a total of 39 stages. Alessandro Petacchi is on the second place on this list with 20 victories. (To compare: Eddy Merckx needed 7 editions for his 34 Tour de France victories, Mark Cavendish even more.)
Would you like to read more fun facts from the history of Vuelta a Espana?
Take a look at these posts below:
Fausto Coppi and the Vuelta a España
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
Smallest winning margins at Vuelta a Espana
Winnig Vuelta a Espana with the smallest winning margin in the history of the race, French rider Éric Caritoux delivered a surprise victory in 1984. Vuelta a Espana always has provided much more opportunitiy to success for lesser known riders, especially in the era, when it was a spring race. (Vuelta a Espana moved to autumn … Read more
Vuelta winners: Gustaaf Deloor
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
5 facts about Vuelta a Espana 1945
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 youngest winners
Over the last few years, since the new golden generation arrived in the world of road cycling races, there are no more unbeatable records, or at least very old lists with some cery new names. Since the beginning of his professional career, we always knew, Remco Evenepoel’s name will be one of those we should … Read more
List of Vuelta a Espana winners
Take a look at the list of Vuelta a Espana winners frim the beginning to 2022. Note, the first two decades in the history of the youngest grand tour were a bit chaotic. There were a quite a few years, when the race wasn’t held. 1935 Gustaaf Deloor1936 Gustaaf Deloor1941 Julián Berrendero1942 Julián Berrendero1945 Delio … Read more
When Delio Rodríguez won 12 of the 21 stages of Vuelta a España
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
Vuelta fun facts: most days in the leader jersey
The leader jersey of the Spanish cycling race Vuelta a Espana is red since 2010 only. But of course, leader jerseys with different colours were awarded since the beginning (1935) of the race1 Alex Zülle 482 Primoz Roglic 373 Roberto Heras 344 Delio Rodriguez 32Tony Rominger 32Gustaaf Deloor 327 Alejandro Valverde 27Julián Berrendero27Chris Froome United … Read more
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 … Read more
5 facts of Vuelta a Espana 1942
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