A criterium , or crit , is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m.
86-428: Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, in which case the number of remaining laps is calculated as the race progresses. Generally the event's duration (commonly one hour) is shorter than that of a traditional road race — which can last many hours, sometimes over the course of several days or even weeks, as in a Grand Tour . However, the average speed and intensity are appreciably higher. The winner
172-466: A "free-for-all" or a team-focused event. Grand Tour (cycling) In road bicycle racing , a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia , Tour de France , and Vuelta a España . Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours , and all three races are similar in format, being three-week races with daily stages. They have a special status in
258-707: A 23-day period that includes 2 rest days. It was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in the 1940s. In 1995 , however, the race moved to September to avoid direct competition with the Giro d'Italia , held in May. As a result, the Vuelta is now often seen as an important preparation for the World Championships , which moved to October the same year. However, starting in 2023 this
344-513: A Espa%C3%B1a The Vuelta a España ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbwelta a esˈpaɲa] ; English: "Tour of Spain" ) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia , the race was first organised in 1935 . The race was prevented from being run by
430-420: A complete unknown until then, managed to win the Vuelta with only six seconds ahead of Alberto Fernández in second place. The end of the 80s was marked by the rise of Colombian cycling, which presented a strong challenge particularly in the mountain stages. Names such as Lucho Herrera (winner in 1987 ) or Fabio Parra (2nd in 1989 ) appeared in the last editions of the decade. One of the rulers at that time
516-539: A dominant victory on the stage 19 individual time trial to Calp, Quintana was able to follow several attacks by Froome on Stage 20, the final mountain stage to Alto de Aitana, to secure overall victory by 1:23 over Froome. By doing so, Quintana became the second Colombian after Luis Herrera in 1987 to win the Vuelta. The 2017 edition started in Nîmes , France. It was the first time the race has started in France and only
602-434: A place in all three events, and obliged to participate, and the organisers are free to invite wildcard teams of UCI ProContinental status to make up the 22 teams that usually compete. In 2023, Team Jumbo–Visma riders Primož Roglič , Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss won the Giro , Tour and Vuelta respectively, making the team the first to win all three Grand Tours in a single calendar year. The main competition
688-437: A primarily Spanish participation to include riders from all over the world. The Vuelta is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams , with the exception of the wild card teams that the organizers can invite. Along with the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia , the Vuelta is one of cycling's prestigious Grand Tours . First held in 1935 and annually since 1955 ,
774-477: A single year in any classification (general, points, mountain, young rider). Few riders have even finished all three in a single year ; of those who have, two finished in the top ten in each: Raphaël Géminiani (4th, 6th and 3rd in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta in 1955) and Gastone Nencini (1st, 6th and 9th in 1957). Eleven riders have achieved a double by winning two grand tours in the same calendar year. Of
860-520: A special status in the rules and regulations of cycling (such as more points in the UCI Women's World Tour, or allowing an increased number of stages), and some have argued that the races need to visit high mountains (such as the Alps ) or contain time trial stages to be considered an equivalent event. Campaign groups such as Le Tour Entier and The Cyclists' Alliance continue to push organisers and
946-457: A squadre ) Intergiro classification ( Intergiro ) [REDACTED] General classification ( la roja ) [REDACTED] Points classification ( jersey verde ) [REDACTED] Mountains classification ( jersey puntos azules ) [REDACTED] Young rider classification ( jersey blanco ) [REDACTED] Team classification ( clasificación por equipos ) [REDACTED] Combativity award Vuelta
SECTION 10
#17327759746191032-515: A struggle with the then leader of the UCI Pro Tour , Alejandro Valverde . In the 2007 edition Denis Menchov again clinched the overall victory by more than three minutes over the Spanish cyclists Carlos Sastre and Samuel Sánchez . In June 2008, French company Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), who organize the Tour de France , announced it had bought 49% of Unipublic. In 2008, the winner
1118-787: A variety of masters categories which can be raced. The Women typically have two separate races, the P/1/2 (3) and the 3/4. Collegiate racing in the USA is sanctioned by USA Cycling (USAC) and consists of four categories: A, B, C, and D. Category A is equivalent to the P-1-2-3 field, category B is equivalent to the Cat 3-4 field, category C is equivalent to Cat 4/5, and D is equivalent to Cat 5. Thus, collegiate criteriums are organized accordingly. The races will also vary depending upon how many people from separate teams enter, which will impact whether it will be
1204-465: A week in length. The Vuelta Femenina takes place in May, the Giro d'Italia Women is generally run in late June / early July and the Tour de France Femmes is held in late July following the men's Tour de France. Some media and teams have referred to these women's events as Grand Tours, as they are the biggest events in the women's calendar. However, they are not three week stage races, they do not have
1290-461: A week in length. The Vuelta Femenina was first held under that name in 2023, the Giro d'Italia Women was first held in 1988, and various women's Tour de France events have taken place since 1984 – with the Tour de France Femmes having its first edition in 2022. In their current form, the Grand Tours are held over three consecutive weeks and typically include two rest days near the beginning of
1376-681: A women's edition of the race, was first held in 2023 , part of the UCI Women's World Tour . This follows smaller races staged in conjunction with the Vuelta between 2015 and 2022 . The first races in Spain were run at the national level and were promoted by the bicycle manufacturers from Eibar . Consequently, the tour was Eibar – Madrid – Eibar, and called the Grand Prix of the Republic. In early 1935, former cyclist Clemente López Doriga, in collaboration with Juan Pujol, director of
1462-410: A year had been won by three different riders from the same country, after Froome won the 2018 Giro d'Italia and Geraint Thomas won the 2018 Tour de France . The 2019 Vuelta was won by Primož Roglič , who became the first Slovenian cyclist to win a Grand Tour. The 2020 Vuelta a España was originally scheduled to be held from 14 August to 6 September 2020. In April 2020, the 2020 Tour de France
1548-452: Is generally run in May, the Tour in July, and the Vuelta in late August and September. The Vuelta was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in the 1940s. In 1995, however, the race moved to September to avoid direct competition with the Giro. The Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious in terms of points accrued to racers of all three, and
1634-631: Is no longer the case as every fourth year the Worlds will now be held in August. A Vuelta was also organized in August and September 1950. The race now usually starts in late August, but the 2020 race started in October due to a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . All of the stages are timed to the finish; after finishing, the riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with
1720-570: Is on tracking plus stability while the Criterium-centric geometry strives to achieve stability and balance it with agility. Consequently Criterium racers will often choose bicycles with: In the UK, Elite and Cat 1+2 riders often race together whilst Cat 3+4 riders race separately; however Elite and Cat 1+2+3 and 4th category only events are also common. Some events known as a handicap races allow Elite and Cat 1+2+3+4 riders to compete in
1806-428: Is the first rider to cross the finish line without having been "lapped". Events often have prizes (called primes / p r iː m z / and are usually cash) for winning specific intermediate laps (for instance, every 10th lap). A bell is usually rung to announce to the riders that whoever wins the next lap will be awarded the prime. Success in road criteriums requires a mix of good technical skills — in particular,
SECTION 20
#17327759746191892-416: Is the individual general classification , decided on aggregate time (sometimes after allowance of time bonuses). There are also classifications for teams and young riders , and based on climbing and sprinting points , and other minor competitions. Five riders have won three individual classifications open to all riders (general, mountains, young and points classifications) in the same race: Eddy Merckx in
1978-625: Is the most widely attended annual sporting event in the world. The Tour, the Giro and the Road World Cycling Championship make up the Triple Crown of Cycling . The three Grand Tours are men's events, and as of 2023, no three week races currently exist on the women's road cycling circuit . The Vuelta Femenina , Giro d'Italia Women and Tour de France Femmes are sometimes considered to be equivalent races for women – taking place over shorter, smaller routes around
2064-413: The 1968 Giro d'Italia and 1969 Tour de France and 1973 Vuelta a España , Tony Rominger in the 1993 Vuelta a España , Laurent Jalabert in the 1995 Vuelta a España , Marco Pantani in the 1998 Giro d'Italia , and Tadej Pogačar in the 2020 Tour de France and 2021 Tour de France . It is rare for cyclists to ride all grand tours in the same year; in 2004, 474 cyclists started in at least one of
2150-400: The 2010 edition without winning a stage, thanks to consistent high placings on summit stage finishes and the race's two time trials. He had inherited the race lead after Igor Antón was forced to abandon after crashing on stage 14. Though Nibali lost the race lead to Joaquim Rodríguez , he later regained it on the final time trial. This marked his first grand tour victory. The 2011 Vuelta
2236-479: The 2016 edition ahead of Froome, with the Colombian Esteban Chaves finishing third. Quintana had gained over 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 minutes over Froome on Stage 15 when he and Contador attacked together from 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) into the stage and blew the race apart, isolating Froome from his Team Sky teammates. Whilst Froome fought back and managed to gain back nearly all he had lost in
2322-566: The 2021 Vuelta a España and this time dominated the field to take his third consecutive victory in the race. He became only the third rider to win the race in three successive years. He won by 4' 42", the largest margin of victory since Alex Zülle won by 5' 07" in 1997 . The 2022 Vuelta a España was won by the UCI World Road Race champion, Belgian Remco Evenepoel after starting in Utrecht , Netherlands . The 2023 Vuelta
2408-544: The 2023 Vuelta a España . Riders from the same country winning all three Grand Tours in a single year has happened only on four occasions. It first occurred in 1964 with French riders Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor , with the second occurrence in 2008 with Spanish riders Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre . 2018 marked the only time three different riders from the same country won all three Tours, these being British riders Chris Froome , Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates . In 2024 Slovenian riders Tadej Pogačar (winning
2494-509: The Alto de L'Angliru was part of a stage for the first time in 1999, with the victory of José María Jiménez , four-time winner of the mountains classification. The reputation of the climb grew rapidly because of its demanding nature. The first editions of the 2000s were marked by the dominance of Roberto Heras , who achieved victory on three occasions, and in 2005 did it for the fourth time. However, as happened with Ángel Arroyo in 1982, Heras
2580-608: The Spanish Civil War and World War II in the early years of its existence; however, the race has been held annually since 1955 . As the Vuelta gained prestige and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend all around the globe. Since 1979, the event has been staged and managed by Unipublic , until in 2014, when the Amaury Sport Organisation acquired control. Since then, they have been working together. The peloton expanded from
2666-543: The UCI regulations: more points for the UCI World Tour are distributed in Grand Tours than in other races, and they are the only stage races allowed to last longer than 14 days, and these differ from major stage races more than one week in duration. All three races have a substantial history, with the Tour de France first held in 1903, Giro d'Italia first held in 1909 and the Vuelta a España first held in 1935. The Giro
Criterium - Misplaced Pages Continue
2752-624: The Unibet team , a ProTour team normally guaranteed entry, was banned from the three Grand Tours for violating gambling advertising laws. In 2008, following numerous doping scandals, some teams were refused entry to the Grand Tours: Astana did not compete at the 2008 Tour de France and Team Columbia did not compete at the 2008 Vuelta a España . Since 2011, under the UCI World Tour rules, all UCI WorldTeams are guaranteed
2838-572: The women's road cycling circuit . Historically, women have participated in three week long stages races, with various women's Tour de France events taking place since 1984. In the contemporary UCI Women's World Tour , the Giro d'Italia Women (first held in 1988), the Tour de France Femmes (first held in 2022) and the Vuelta Femenina (started in 2015, gaining its current name in 2023) are sometimes considered to be equivalent races for women – taking place over shorter, smaller routes around
2924-424: The 1960s, they would also be joined by German and Dutch riders. In 1963 , Jacques Anquetil won the general classification, establishing himself as the first rider to win all three Grand Tours. Five years later, in 1968 , Felice Gimondi would do the same. Eddy Merckx ( 1973 ), Bernard Hinault ( 1978 , 1983 ), Alberto Contador ( 2008 ), Vincenzo Nibali ( 2010 ) and Chris Froome ( 2017 ) later accomplished
3010-543: The Giro and the Tour) and Primož Roglič (winning the Vuelta) repeated the accomplishments of the aforementioned French, Spanish and British riders. On four occasions, each of the three Grand Tours in the same year was won by a home rider, that is, an Italian winning the Giro, a Frenchman winning the Tour and a Spaniard winning the Vuelta. The last occasion this occurred was 1975. As of 2024 , no three week races currently exist on
3096-430: The Grand Tours are generally under 200 kilometres in length. Grand Tour events have specific rules and criteria as part of Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) regulations. For the UCI World Tour , more points are given in grand tours than in other races; the winner of the Tour de France receives 1000 points, and the winners of the Giro and Vuelta receive 850 points. Depending on the nature of other races, points vary for
3182-605: The Grand Tours in the same season: Miguel Poblet in 1956, Pierino Baffi in 1958 and Alessandro Petacchi in 2003. The rider with the most Grand Tour stage wins in one season is Freddy Maertens who won 20 stages in 1977: 13 in the Vuelta a España and 7 in the Giro d'Italia . Only 36 riders have finished all three Grand Tours in one season. Adam Hansen has done this six times consecutively, Marino Lejarreta four times and Bernardo Ruiz achieved it in three different years, while Eduardo Chozas and Carlos Sastre have completed
3268-524: The Tour de France was ridden to its conclusion. Over the years, 36 riders have completed all three Grand Tours in one year: Adam Hansen did so six years in a row. The only riders to have finished in the top 10 in each of the three tours during the same year are Raphaël Géminiani in 1955 and Gastone Nencini in 1957. In 2023 Sepp Kuss became the first rider since Nencini to start and finish all three tours in one year, while winning one of them - in Kuss' case
3354-493: The UCI for his use of performance-enhancing drugs . The organizers of the Tour de France announced that the winner's slot would remain empty in the record books, rather than transfer the win to the second-place finishers each year. Seven cyclists have won all three of the Grand Tours during their career: Hinault and Contador are the only cyclists to have won each Grand Tour at least twice. No rider has won all three Grand Tours in
3440-416: The UCI to allow for longer stage races for women, as well as to improve the quality and economic stability of the women's peloton to allow for three week long races in future. A. Lance Armstrong was declared the winner of seven consecutive Tours from 1999 to 2005. However, on 22 October 2012, he was stripped of all his titles by
3526-505: The Vuelta is run routinely in August and September, but it was previously run in April and May. Another difference was the number of participants. Previously, there were very few, but the number doubled, with more internationally recognized competitors. The prestige of the Vuelta increased, with more stars from the international cycling scene. During the late 1950s came the first successes in the overall standings of Italian and French riders. In
Criterium - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-529: The Vuelta runs for three weeks in a changing route across Spain. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same, with the appearance of at least two time trials, the passage through the mountain chain of the Pyrenees or the Cantabrian Mountains , and the finish in the Spanish capital Madrid . The modern editions of the Vuelta a España consist of 21 day-long stages over
3698-480: The Vuelta's timeslot. That year Laurent Jalabert won all classifications, the second time this happened in the Vuelta (Rominger had done so in 1993). The Frenchman was also a four-time winner of the points classification, matching the previous record set by Sean Kelly in the '80s. In 1997 , the tour started for the first time in a foreign country. They began in Lisbon , on the occasion of Expo '98 . The ascent of
3784-401: The ability to corner smoothly while holding the line on the road, as well as rapidly and sharply — and riding safely with a large group on a short circuit and exceptional "sprint" ability to attack other riders and repeatedly accelerate hard from corners. Criteriums are relatively easy to organise, do not require a large amount of space, and are good for live spectators as they allow them to see
3870-405: The above eleven, Pantani, Roche and Battaglin's doubles were their only Grand Tour victories in their careers. The margins between the winner of a Grand Tour and the runner-up are often narrow, and rarely larger than a few minutes. As of 2021, there have been 54 Grand Tours with a winning margin less than one minute. The smallest margins are as follows: The biggest winning margin in a Grand Tour
3956-400: The accomplishment twice. The rider with most participations on Grand Tours is Matteo Tosatto with 34 (12 Tours, 13 Giros and 9 Vueltas). The rider who has finished most Grand Tours is also Matteo Tosatto, with 28 (12 Tours, 11 Giros and 5 Vueltas). Adam Hansen has finished the most consecutive Grand Tours: 20 tours from 2011 Vuelta a España till 2018 Giro d'Italia . Bernardo Ruiz was
4042-497: The daily newspaper Informaciones , organized the Vuelta a España, The inaugural event saw 50 entrants face a 3,411 km (2,119 mi.) course over only 14 stages, averaging over 240 km (149 mi.) per stage. It was inspired by the success of the Tours in France and Italy, and the boost they brought to the circulations of their sponsoring newspapers ( L'Auto and La Gazzetta dello Sport respectively); Pujol of instigated
4128-445: The first rider to ride every tour of a season on three occasions which he completed in 1957. Marino Lejarreta completed every grand tour of the season for the 4th time in 1991 and of these 12 tours he finished in the top 10 of eight of them. His record of 4 was not passed until Adam Hansen completed the Vuelta in 2016. Gastone Nencini (1957) and Sepp Kuss (2023) are the only cyclists to both ride all three Grand Tours and win one in
4214-474: The first time since 1985 , the race was not 21 stages long; instead, it was held in a reduced format over 18 stages. Roglic defended his title in a hard-fought race with Richard Carapaz which was among the closest Vueltas in history with the winning margin being only +0:24. The 2020 Vuelta had the smallest margin of victory since the 1984 Vuelta a España , which was the smallest margin of victory of any grand tour in cycling history. In 2021, Roglič returned in
4300-579: The first time trial was held in the Vuelta. Julián Berrendero was proclaimed the winner, and he recaptured the title the next year. In addition, Berrendero was King of the Mountains for three consecutive years. With World War II and the precarious economic situation, there was another break in the running of the Vuelta a España. In 1945, the Journal took over organization of the race and competition resumed, although again with few foreign competitors in
4386-571: The format of a points race . First, second, and third rider at every 5th lap gets 3, 2, 1 points respectively, with double points for the final sprint. It was a long tradition that after the Tour these criteriums were fixed to have favourable results for local favourites, who may be participating for show after having ridden in a larger race such as the Tour de France. Racing bicycles used for Criteriums often have subtle, but significantly different geometry from those used in other mass-start, multi stage road race events. A Tour bicycle frameset's emphasis
SECTION 50
#17327759746194472-421: The grand tours, 68 of them rode two Grand Tours and only two cyclists started in all three grand tours. It is not unusual for sprinters to start each of the Grand Tours and aim for stage wins before the most difficult stages occur. Alessandro Petacchi and Mark Cavendish started all three Grand Tours in 2010 and 2011, respectively, as did some of their preferred support riders. For both riders in both years, only
4558-414: The international squad as one of the greats of cycling. José Manuel Fuente , with victories in 1972 and 1974 , became the third rider to win two Tours of Spain. A few years later, Bernard Hinault repeated the feat, which was also achieved by Pedro Delgado during the 1980s. In 1973 , Eddy Merckx won the Vuelta by a landslide, winning six stages and all individual classifications with the exception of
4644-511: The lead from the first day to the last. The 1936 edition remains the longest winning finish time of the Vuelta in 150:07:54, the race consisted of 22 stages with a total length of 4,407 km. Gustaaf finished first and his older brother Alfons finished second overall. After the first two editions, the Spanish race suffered a hiatus because of the Spanish Civil War . In 1941 , the Vuelta resumed competition with an almost entirely Spanish peloton and very little foreign representation. That year
4730-482: The lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race and gets to don the red jersey . While the general classification garners the most attention, there are other contests held within the Vuelta: the points classification for the sprinters, the mountains classification for the climbers, the combination classification for the all-round riders, and the team classification for the competing teams. La Vuelta Femenina ,
4816-413: The mountain classification five times, and Sean Kelly, who won four times in the points classification. In 1982 came the first case of disqualification of the winner for doping. Two days after the end of the competition, Ángel Arroyo and a few other riders were disqualified, and Arroyo lost his victory to Marino Lejarreta . Arroyo appealed for a B test of his sample, which again tested positive. Arroyo
4902-640: The mountains competition: he finished second. Freddy Maertens in 1977 echoed a similar domination to that demonstrated by Merckx a few years earlier, by winning thirteen stages and all individual classifications except the mountain. In the mid-1970s, Andrés Oliva managed to earn the King of the Mountains title in three editions of the Vuelta. Frenchman Bernard Hinault emerged in 1978 as an international cycling star. The same year, Hinault won his first Tour de France. The last stage of that edition also had to be suspended because of riots and barricades that prevented
4988-449: The normal course of it. When 1979 El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco left as a sponsor of the race, the Vuelta was once again endangered. However, the company Unipublic took charge of the competition. This, coupled with increased advertising and the beginning of the broadcasts via television, further grew revenue and interest in the Vuelta. In the early 1980s, two names stood out in the secondary classifications: José Luis Laguía, who won
5074-416: The organizer of the Vuelta, El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco , went through some financial problems that endangered the running of the competition. However, during that time all editions ended normally. In 1968 , the Vuelta was hit by a terrorist attack and other events, having to cancel the 15th stage. There were no fatalities. The '70s began with the triumph of Luis Ocaña , who was already established in
5160-452: The peloton. On this occasion, Delio Rodríguez took the final victory. That year also introduced the points classification, but this was not stable until 1955. Four editions were run until 1950. Subsequently, there was no Vuelta until 1955, when it was organized by the Basque newspaper El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco . Since then, the Vuelta a España has been run annually. At this time,
5246-415: The podium, finishing 40 seconds behind Froome and 1 minute and 50 seconds behind Contador. The 2015 edition saw another strong field contest the race, including the top four finishers at the 2015 Tour de France (Froome, Valverde, Nibali and Nairo Quintana ) and two of the podium finishers from the 2015 Giro d'Italia in the form of Nibali's teammates Fabio Aru and Mikel Landa . The early leaders of
SECTION 60
#17327759746195332-500: The race consecutively between 1992 and 1994. The fiftieth edition of the Vuelta, which was held in 1995 , coincided with the change of dates. The Vuelta a España came to be held in September, and near the end of the season as the last of the three Grand Tours of the year. This was done to attract more high-profile riders, who before had preferred to ride the Giro d'Italia or the Tour de France , which both took place very closely to
5418-446: The race entered the mountains of northern Spain, but lost it to Rodríguez on Stage 16. Dumoulin took the lead back on Stage 17 – the race's only individual time trial – with Aru three seconds behind in second place. Aru attacked throughout the final stages and, on the penultimate day, finally dropped Dumoulin, who fell to sixth place overall. Aru therefore took the first Grand Tour victory of his career. Nairo Quintana won
5504-448: The race for 13 days between the fourth and sixteenth stages. Rodríguez also achieved three stage victories. The 2013 Vuelta a España saw another shock result when the 41-year-old American Chris Horner defeated Vincenzo Nibali, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodríguez to become the first North American to win the Vuelta and the oldest rider to win a grand tour. In addition Horner clinched the race's combination classification . The race
5590-486: The race to increase Informaciones' s circulation. The first stage took the riders from Madrid to Valladolid . That year saw the first great duel in the history of the Vuelta, between Belgium's Gustaaf Deloor , who ultimately won, and Mariano Cañardo , Spanish runner-up. The second edition of the Vuelta, finally held despite the delicate political situation, was also marked by the Deeloor repeat, who this time held
5676-511: The race were Esteban Chaves and Tom Dumoulin , who exchanged the leader's red jersey several times during the first ten days of racing, with both riders winning summit finishes in the first week. With the withdrawals of Chris Froome and the disqualification of Vincenzo Nibali, Nibali's team mate Fabio Aru took over the race lead following the mountainous Stage 11, which took place entirely within Andorra. He kept his lead for five stages as
5762-505: The red jersey on the 10th stage individual time trial and taking two key mountain stage wins on his way to victory. He won the race by 1' 10" over runner-up, Chris Froome. Like Contador, Froome also went into the race uncertain of his form after he crashed three times in two days during the Tour, leading to his withdrawal. However, Froome came to life during the third week, finishing second in three key mountain stages and taking time to move into second place overall. Alejandro Valverde completed
5848-529: The riders pass by many times. They are the most common type of bicycle racing in the continental United States. They are also gaining popularity as a format for mountain bike events. Belgium's Flanders region hosts a number of criteriums, as does the Netherlands. The most notable of these are held in late July and early August, just after the Tour de France . However, criteriums in Europe are mostly held in
5934-693: The same race with riders from the different categories being set off at defined intervals starting with the 4th category. Most events contain a women's race which accepts all categories of female riders; however some women's events are only open to higher category riders, whilst some events allow women to compete with category Cat 3+4 men. In the United States, the Men's Field (Pro + Cat 1 + Cat 2, and sometimes Cat 3) generally race together, Cat 3's often have their own races, Cat 4/5 Men often race together, but sometimes have their own races. In addition, there are
6020-610: The same season. The best average finish was the first time three Grand Tours were finished in one season, when Raphaël Géminiani finished 4th, 6th and 3rd in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta, respectively. [REDACTED] General classification ( maglia rosa ) [REDACTED] Points classification ( maglia ciclamino ) [REDACTED] Mountains classification ( maglia azzurra ) [REDACTED] Young rider classification ( maglia bianca ) Team classification ( classifica
6106-400: The same treble. Antonio Karmany dominated the mountain classification for three consecutive years, then was replaced by Julio Jiménez, who won it for another three years. In 1965 , Rik Van Looy became the first rider to repeat victory in the points classification. Jan Janssen in 1968 and 1974 Domingo Perurena would do the same, winning this classification twice. During mid 60's
6192-428: The second and third weeks. If the opening stages are in a country not neighbouring the home nation of the race, there is sometimes an additional rest day after the opening weekend to allow for transfers. The stages are a mix of long massed start races (sometimes including mountain and hill climbs and descents; others are flat stages favoring those with a sprint finish) and individual and team time trials . Stages in
6278-408: The strongest in a grand tour in recent memory, as a range of accomplished riders entered the race after suffering injuries or health problems earlier in the season. Contador claimed his third Vuelta, Contador went into the race uncertain of his form after crashing out of the Tour de France on the 10th stage, breaking his tibia. However, Contador found his form in the race earlier than expected, taking
6364-469: The third time it has started outside Spain, after 1997 (Portugal) and 2009 (Netherlands). The general classification was won by 2017 Tour de France champion Chris Froome from Team Sky , ahead of Vincenzo Nibali of Bahrain–Merida . Froome became the third rider to win the Tour-Vuelta double after Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard Hinault (1978), and the first to do so since the Vuelta
6450-611: The winner of the overall classification The grand tours have a special status for the length: they are allowed to last between 15 and 23 days – whereas other stage races are not allowed to last longer than 14 days. Historically, controversy surrounds which teams are invited to the event by the organiser. Typically, the UCI prefers top-rated professional teams to enter, while operators of the Grand Tours often want teams based in their country or those unlikely to cause controversy. Between 2005 and 2007, organisers had to accept all ProTour teams, leaving only two wildcard teams per Tour. However,
6536-979: Was 2h 59' 21" in Maurice Garin 's win at the first Tour de France in 1903 . The biggest margin in the history of Giro d'Italia was in 1914 when Alfonso Calzolari won by 1h 57' 26", and the biggest margin in the history of Vuelta a España was in 1945 when Delio Rodríguez finished 30' 08" clear. The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by five riders – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov , Mark Cavendish , Laurent Jalabert , Eddy Merckx and Alessandro Petacchi . The Tour/Giro/Vuelta triple has been achieved by two riders – Federico Bahamontes and Luis Herrera . The Tour/Giro double has been achieved by three riders – Egan Bernal , Nairo Quintana and Andy Schleck . The Giro/Vuelta double has been achieved by one rider – Miguel Ángel López . The Tour/Vuelta double has been achieved by two riders – Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel . Three cyclists have won stages in all three of
6622-475: Was also Pedro Delgado , with two victories ( 1985 and 1989 ), a second place, and two third-place finishes. In the 1988 edition , the start took place in the Canary Islands with 3 stages. The race was won by Irishman Sean Kelly , his only overall victory in a Grand Tour. The first half of the 1990s was marked by the dominance of Swiss rider Tony Rominger , the first rider to win three times and win
6708-405: Was also notable for Tony Martin 's all-day solo break on stage 6, when he broke away at the start and led for nearly the entire stage before being caught 20 metres from the finish line, placing seventh behind stage winner Michael Mørkøv . In March 2014, ASO acquired full control of Unipublic, with both working together with the running of the race. The 2014 race featured a field described as
6794-534: Was disqualified days after the end of the competition after testing positive in a doping test, this time for use of EPO . This positive development was later ratified by the counter-analysis and Heras was stripped of his title, benefiting the Russian cyclist Denis Menchov until 2012, when the Spanish Courts overturned the positive test and re-awarded the win to Heras. In 2006 Alexander Vinokourov won after
6880-473: Was given a ten-minute penalty, and ultimately ended up placing thirteenth in the general classification. Next year's edition was the first appearance of the Lagos de Covadonga as a final stage, an ascent that would become, over the years, the most iconic climb of the Vuelta a España. In 1984 it played the issue in a race that ended with the smallest difference between the first and second place. Éric Caritoux ,
6966-540: Was moved to its current calendar position. Froome also won the points and combination classifications, becoming the first rider to win three jerseys in a single Vuelta since Denis Menchov in 2007. In 2018 , it was another British rider who won the race, in Simon Yates , riding for the Mitchelton–Scott . Aged 26 this was Yates' first grand tour win, and meant that for the first time all three grand tours in
7052-425: Was rescheduled to run between the 29 August and 20 September, having been postponed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic . On 15 April, UCI announced that both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta would take place in autumn after the 2020 UCI Road World Championships . On 5 May, UCI announced that the postponed Giro and the Vuelta would run between 3 and 25 October and between 20 October and 8 November, respectively. For
7138-640: Was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country . The 33-year absence from the region was due to fear of political protests . The victory was originally awarded to Juan José Cobo who had a race-winning margin of just 13 seconds over Briton Chris Froome . Neither rider had been marked as a pre-race favourite, and both had gone to the Vuelta as domestiques for their team leaders: Cobo for Denis Menchov , and Froome for Bradley Wiggins ; their team leaders originally finished 5th and 3rd respectively. The race
7224-802: Was the Spaniard Alberto Contador, who also won that year's Giro d'Italia , and became the first Spaniard to win all three Grand Tours. In 2009, the Vuelta began in Drenthe, Netherlands, continuing through Belgium and Germany. The final winner was Alejandro Valverde, who adopted a conservative stance without winning any stage and sprinting in the final meters to achieve bonuses. His main rivals were Samuel Sánchez (second place), Cadel Evans (third), Ivan Basso , Robert Gesink and Ezequiel Mosquera . All of them suffered critical falls or punctures such as Evans in Monachil. Vincenzo Nibali won
7310-401: Was the first time that two Britons had stood on the podium of a Grand Tour, and Froome's second-place finish equalled the highest placing by a British rider in a Grand tour, Pippa York finishing second in the race in 1985 and 1986, until Wiggins won the Tour de France the following year. In 2019 Cobo's win was annulled for doping violations, and the race awarded to Froome. In 2012 , the race
7396-549: Was won for the second time by Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank , taking his first overall victory since returning from a doping suspension. Contador, who won the seventeenth stage of the race after a solo attack, won the general classification by 1' 16" over runner-up Alejandro Valverde of the Movistar Team team. Completing an all-Spanish podium, Joaquim Rodríguez finished the race third overall, 21 seconds behind Valverde and 1' 37" behind Contador, having led
#618381