Amongst all the famous grand tours, one came to life in 1935. The Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France had been in existence for a very long time. But then, the need for such a long distance road racing arose in Spain and it was adopted in 1935.
Now, just as many other things that went ahead to become great in life, the race witnessed up to 11 interruptions within the first 20 years. Some of the interruptions were caused by the Spanish Civil War; some came due to the Second World War, while the others were due to lack of proper preparation.
However, it was in 1955 that the race took a new turn, and it has held without interruption every year since then. Something which started with people around the country and the neighboring countries is now attracting people from the entire world. Within the UCI World Tour calendar, this is seen as the most important race, as it covers a distance of up to 4,442 km throughout the entire Spain.
Format
The same type of qualification and racing format that are used in the other Grand Tours are also obtainable here. When the race starts, it lasts for a period of 3 weeks, which could be about 23 days, while two days are reserved for rest. At the end of the entire races, the person with the lowest aggregate time across the entire stages is declared the winner. You can check the past vuelta news for a list of the past winners. Other things that are graded in the race include the mountain tracks, points haul, team classification and competition classification for cyclists.
Winners
A history of winnings or victories in the competition shows that the person to have won the highest in individual trophies is Delio Rodríguez. The racer that has worn with the highest lead is Pedro Delgado when he won the competition with a 35 seconds lead. In the category of the general classifications, Roberto Heras has won it most. He has four trophies here. When it comes to the country with the highest win rate, it is Spain the host country, and they have claimed victory at the race 31 times.
However, another history was made in 2017 as Chris Froome became the first Briton to ever win the Vuelta Espana. He did not just set this record, he also set the record as the first man in the entire world since the race started to win it directly after landing the Tour De France trophy. His heroics and record breaking victory also has other surprises and accolades, as the Briton also became the third person to win the Tour De France and Vuelta Espana doubles in the same season.
Chris Froome was leading even before the final race that happened on the 10th of September 2017. So, all he needed to do to win the 72nd title on Sunday was to retain his lead against Vincenzo Nibali.
It has been about 72 days since the tour started, and he is winning the 72nd title. Within the 72 days that the tour has lasted, Froome has been involved in up to 42 races. On 32 of those races, he ended up winning the leaders jersey. This record has been termed as extraordinary by some people. But, do you think it’s true?
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