The Grand Tour cycling season’s finale, the Vuelta a Espana, begins Saturday. Sometimes dismissed as a lead up to the UCI Road Cycling World Championships held in the fall, the Vuelta is still an exciting event. This year’s edition is shaping up to be an all-star affair set to include the likes of 2014 Giro champion Nairo Quintana, Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Andrew Talansky and Joaquim Rodriguez. The first stage of the 2014 edition is a team time trial held in Jerez de la Frontera, just inland from Cadiz, Spain.
The youngest of the three major races—the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France being the others—the Vuelta was first contested in 1935, and has been held every year since 1955.
Each of the Grand Tours started as primarily commercial affairs, the racing offering interesting subject matter for the event’s chief sponsors. The L’Auto newspaper in France found it was able to improve circulation by creating and featuring the Tour de France. In Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport enjoyed similar success with the Giro.
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Inspired by the success of the French and Italian efforts, Juan Pujol used his Informaciones paper to fund and expose people to the Vuelta. The first race covered nearly 3,500 kilometres over 14 stages and was won by Belgian Gustaaf Deloor. Spaniard Mariano Canardo finished second. Deloor repeated in 1936 amid a deteriorating political situation in Spain. That same year, the Spanish Civil War began and carried on for nearly three years, mothballing the Vuelta. It’s return in 1941 was short lived. Spanish fans were treated to a pair of back to back victories by native son Julian Berrendero before the race was once again put on hold—this time for World War II.
The race resumed in 1945 under different management. Spanish riders continued to do well, though international entries were limited, much like in the Berrendero years. Troubles continued to dog the event until another newspaper—El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco—took over in 1955. Traditionally held in the spring, the race was shifted to August in part to avoid competition with the Giro d’Italia. The Vuelta has continued uninterrupted ever since.
The event’s prestige increased through the next two decades, aided by Frenchman Jacques Anquetil’s victories. He became the first rider to win all three Grand Tours and has since been followed by the likes of Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, and the 2014 Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali.
A terror attack in 1968 was attributed to the general strikes and protests occurring in France that year. A bomb exploded on the Vuelta route, but thankfully a few minutes before the peloton reached the targeted location. The stage was suspended, but the tour carried on. In 1973, Merckx—sometimes known as “the Cannibal”—scored his only victory at the Spanish race in dominating fashion, winning six stages and all of the individual classifications other than the mountains jersey, where he finished second.
The subsequent decades saw fantastic performances from the likes of Swiss rider Tony Rominger. Spanish riders have been dominant since 2000, with Roberto Heras winning four races. He was later stripped of his 2005 victory for a doping infraction, but is listed as the race winner after a Spanish court overturned the decision in 2012.
The most recent editions have seen the rise of riders such as Nibali and Britons Froome and Bradley Wiggins. The 2013 edition was surprising for the victory of 41 year-old American Chris Horner, a veteran of the sport and the oldest man to win a Grand Tour.