1994 Vuelta a España

1994 Vuelta a España
Race details
Dates 25 April - 15 May
Stages 20 + Prologue
Distance 3,531.6 km (2,194 mi)
Winning time 92h 07' 48" (38.333 km/h or 23.819 mph)
Palmares
Winner  Tony Rominger (SUI) (Mapei-CLAS)
Second  Mikel Zarrabeitia (ESP) (Banesto)
Third  Pedro Delgado (ESP) (Banesto)
Points  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) (ONCE)
Mountains  Luc Leblanc (FRA) (Festina-Lotus)
Sprints  Mauro Radaelli (ITA) (Brescialat)
Team Banesto

The 1994 Vuelta a España was the 49th edition of the Vuelta a España, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Vuelta started on April 25 with a short 9 km (5.6 mi) prologue around the Spanish city of Valladolid.[1] The race came to a close on May 15 with a flat stage that stretched from Palazuelos de Eresma to the Spanish capital of Madrid.[1] Seventeen teams entered the race, which was won by Tony Rominger of the Mapei-CLAS team.[2] Second and third respectively were the Spanish riders Mikel Zarrabeitia and Pedro Delgado.[2]

Tony Rominger became the first rider to win the Vuelta a España three consecutive times. Amongst the race's other classifications, Laurent Jalabert of the ONCE team won the points classification, Festina-Lotus rider Luc Leblanc won the mountains classification, Mauro Radaelli of the Brescialat team won the intermediate sprints classification, and Amore & Vita rider Alessio Di Basco won the special sprints classification. Banesto finished as the winners of the team classification, which ranked each of the twenty teams contesting the race by lowest cumulative time.

Race preview and favorites

Tony Rominger, winner of the past two editions, was once again the favorite. Alex Zülle the previous year's runner up and Pedro Delgado, twice winner of the Vuelta, were expected to be his main rivals.

Teams

A total of 17 teams were invited to participate in the 1994 Vuelta a España.[3][4] Each team sent a squad of ten riders, so the Vuelta began with a peloton of 170 cyclists.[3][4] Out of the 170 riders that started this edition of the Vuelta a España, a total of 121 riders made it to the finish in Madrid.[2][4]

The 17 teams that took part in the race were:[3][4]

Route and stages

The 1994 Vuelta a España began with a brief 9 km (6 mi) prologue that circuited the city of Valladolid.[4] The official race route contained three individual time trial events with distances that ranged from 9 km (6 mi) to 53 km (33 mi) in length.[4] There were a total of eight stages that held many high mountains, while there was only one hilly stage that contained climbs of lesser degree. The nine remaining stages were primarily flat.

Of the stages that contained mountains, six contained summit finishes: stage 5 to Sierra Nevada,[4] stage 9 to Andorra-Arcalís,[4] stage 10 to Cerler,[4] stage 13 to Sierra de la Demanda,[4] stage 15 to Lakes of Covadonga,[4] and stage 16 to Monte Naranco.[4]

Stage Date Course[1][4] Distance Type Winner
P 25 April Valladolid 9 km (6 mi) Individual time trial  Tony Rominger (SUI)
1 26 April Valladolid to Salamanca 178.4 km (111 mi) Plain stage  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
2 27 April Salamanca to Cáceres 239 km (149 mi) Plain stage  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
3 28 April Almendralejo to Córdoba 235.6 km (146 mi) Plain stage  Endrio Leoni (ITA)
4 29 April Córdoba to Granada 166.9 km (104 mi) Plain stage  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
5 30 April Granada to Sierra Nevada 151.7 km (94 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Tony Rominger (SUI)
6 1 May Baza to Alicante 256.5 km (159 mi) Plain stage  Simone Biasci (ITA)
7 2 May Benidorm to Benidorm 39.5 km (25 mi) Individual time trial  Tony Rominger (SUI)
8 3 May Benidorm to Valencia 166 km (103 mi) Plain stage  Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED)
9 4 May Igualada to Andorra-Arcalís (Andorra) 205 km (127 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Ángel Camargo (COL)
10 5 May Andorra la Vella (Andorra) to Cerler 195.3 km (121 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Tony Rominger (SUI)
11 6 May Benasque to Zaragoza 226.7 km (141 mi) Plain stage  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
12 7 May Zaragoza to Pamplona 201.6 km (125 mi) Plain stage  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
13 8 May Pamplona to Sierra de la Demanda 174 km (108 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Tony Rominger (SUI)
14 9 May Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Santander 209.3 km (130 mi) Hilly stage  Alessio Di Basco (ITA)
15 10 May Santander to Lakes of Covadonga 147.7 km (92 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
16 11 May Cangas de Onís to Monte Naranco 150.4 km (93 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Bart Voskamp (NED)
17 12 May Ávila to Ávila 189 km (117 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Giuseppe Calcaterra (ITA)
18 13 May Ávila to Palazuelos de Eresma 171 km (106 mi) Stage with mountain(s)  Marino Alonso (ESP)
19 14 May Segovia to Palazuelos de Eresma 53 km (33 mi) Individual time trial  Tony Rominger (SUI)
20 15 May Palazuelos de Eresma to Madrid 165.7 km (103 mi) Plain stage  Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
Total 3,531 km (2,194 mi)

Race overview

Rominger showed from the very start that he was unlikely to be easily beaten, as he won the prologue by a large margin. On the sixth stage, ending at the top of the 2700m climb of the Sierra Nevada, Rominger took advantage of an attack by youngster Mikel Zarrabeitia to leave all other riders behind and win the stage. After only one mountain stage Rominger was now the leader by over two minutes over his rivals.

In the second week, Rominger put his overall win beyond doubt, gaining another two minutes on his rivals at the Benidorm individual time trial and taking two more stage wins, albeit without much time gain, on the mountaintop finishes at Cerler and the Alto de la Cruz de la Demanda.

Even though the overall winner was set in stone, there was a spirited fight for second and third places between ONCE leader Zülle and Banesto riders Delgado and Zarrabeitia. This fight was mostly decided when Zülle cracked on the Lagos de Covadonga climb and lost several minutes. This very stage marked the beginning of Laurent Jalabert's transformation from sprinter into GC contender as he took the stage win.

In Segovia, on the outskirts of Madrid, Marino Alonso took the only stage win by a Spanish rider in this edition of the Vuelta. It was also in Segovia that the penultima stage was held, a 53 km individual time trial. Zülle set the fastest intermediate times and looked set to win the stage and finish on the podium, but bad luck struck, and after four consecutive mechanical issues he lost any chance of doing so. Rominger took his 6th stage win.

The final stage, ending in Madrid, resulted in Jalabert's seventh stage win, a record that also netted him the points classification. Also a record was Rominger's third Vuelta win. He also held the leader's jersey from start to finish (which only three riders had achieved before) and won six stages. The Banesto duo of Zarrabeitia and Delgado accompanied him on the podium.

It was the last time that the race was held in late spring as from 1995 onwards the race was held in September.

Classification leadership

Classification leadership by stage[1] [5]
Stage Winner General classification
 Points classification
 Mountains classification
 Team classification
P Tony Rominger Tony Rominger Tony Rominger not awarded Banesto
1 Laurent Jalabert
2 Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert José Manuel Uría
3 Endrio Leoni Ignacio García Camacho
4 Laurent Jalabert Luc Leblanc
5 Tony Rominger Mapei-CLAS
6 Simone Biasci
7 Tony Rominger Tony Rominger
8 Jean-Paul van Poppel Luc Leblanc Banesto
9 Ángel Camargo Tony Rominger
10 Tony Rominger Tony Rominger Mapei-CLAS
11 Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert
12 Laurent Jalabert
13 Tony Rominger
14 Alessio Di Basco Banesto
15 Laurent Jalabert
16 Bart Voskamp
17 Giuseppe Calcaterra Luc Leblanc
18 Marino Alonso
19 Tony Rominger Tony Rominger
20 Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert
Final Tony Rominger Laurent Jalabert Luc Leblanc Banesto

Final standings

Legend [2] [6]
Yellow jersey Denotes the winner of the General classification Granate jersey Denotes the winner of the Points classification
White jersey Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification Red jersey Denotes the winner of the Intermediate sprints classification
Orangejersey Denotes the winner of the Special sprints classification

General classification

Rider Team Time
1  Tony Rominger (SUI) A yellow jersey Mapei-CLAS 92h 07' 48"
2  Mikel Zarrabeitia (ESP) Banesto + 7' 28"
3  Pedro Delgado (ESP) Banesto + 9' 27"
4  Alex Zülle (SUI) ONCE + 10' 54"
5  Oliverio Rincón (COL) ONCE + 13' 09"
6  Luc Leblanc (FRA) A white jersey Festina-Lotus + 15' 27"
7  Vicente Aparicio (ESP) Banesto + 15' 48"
8  Luis Pérez (ESP) Cavas Castellblanch + 16' 46"
9  Fernando Escartín (ESP) Mapei-CLAS + 16' 54"
10  Alberto Camargo (COL) Artiach-Royal Fruco + 20' 35"

Points classification

Rider Team Points
1  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) A granate jersey ONCE 243
2  Tony Rominger (SUI) A yellow jersey Mapei-CLAS 227
3  Alex Zülle (SUI) ONCE 121
4  Mikel Zarrabeitia (ESP) Banesto 117
5  Pedro Delgado (ESP) Banesto 89
6  Juan Carlos González Salvador (ESP) Carrera Jeans-Tassoni 83
7  Oliverio Rincón (COL) ONCE 78
8  Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED) Festina-Lotus 77
9  Roberto Pagnin (ITA) Navigare-Blue Storm 67
10  Paulo-Antonio Fanelli (ITA) Carrera Jeans-Tassoni 64

Mountains classification

Rider Team Points
1  Luc Leblanc (FRA) A white jersey Festina-Lotus 158
2  Michele Coppolillo (ITA) Navigare-Blue Storm 148
3  Tony Rominger (SUI) A yellow jersey Mapei-CLAS 136
4  Oliverio Rincón (COL) ONCE 99
5  Mikel Zarrabeitia (ESP) Banesto 76

Team classification

Team[2] Time
1 Banesto 276h 42' 43"
2 Mapei-CLAS + 10' 01"
3 ONCE + 18' 15"
4 Cavas Castellblanch + 40' 55"
5 Festina-Lotus + 43' 32"
6 Artiach-Royal Fruco + 48' 18"
7 Kelme-Avianca-Gios + 54' 52"
8 Euskadi-Petronor + 1h 40' 24"
9 Mercatone Uno-Medeghini + 1h 51' 54"
10 Recer-Boavista + 2h 30' 44"

Intermediate sprints classification

Rider[2] Team Points
1  Mauro Radaelli (ITA) A red jersey Brescialat 44
2  Orlando Rodrigues (POR) Artiach-Royal Fruco 29
3  Roberto Pagnin (ITA) Navigare-Blue Storm 22
4  Fabio Roscioli (ITA) Brescialat 8
5  Julio Cesar Cadena (COL) Kelme-Avianca-Gios 7

Special sprints classification

Rider[2] Team Points
1  Alessio Di Basco (ITA) An orange jersey Amore & Vita 39
2  Giuseppe Calcaterra (ITA) Amore & Vita 18
3  Fabio Roscioli (ITA) Brescialat 11
4  Michele Coppolillo (ITA) Navigare-Blue Storm 11
5  Roberto Pagnin (ITA) Navigare-Blue Storm 6

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 ""Esta carrera es la mas importante"" ["This race is the most important"] (PDF) (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 16 May 1994. p. 44. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "La Vuelta - 94" [The Vuelta - 94] (PDF) (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 16 May 1994. p. 45. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "La Vuelta - 94" [The Vuelta - 94] (PDF) (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 26 April 1994. p. 45. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 "Año 1994" [Year 1994] (PDF) (in Spanish). Unipublic. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  5. ↑ http://historia.lavuelta.com/es/anio.asp?a=1994
  6. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMHnKrDrdmU

External links