La Vuelta a España 2022 AUGUST 19 – SEPTEMBER 11 The Vuelta a España – cycling’s final Grand Tour of the year – first departed from Madrid in 1935, aiming to emulate growth of the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. The 2022 race begins in Utrecht, Netherlands, and navigates all eight Andalusian provinces, before concluding with the traditional final circuit along the main arteries of the Spanish capital, Madrid Elite Club Spanish rider Roberto Heras – who finished in Top 6 each year between 1997 and 2005 – is only man to have conquered La Vuelta four times. Alberto Contador’s 2014 win – his third overall – provided most recent home victory 4 Roberto Heras ESP Vuelta tours 2000, 03, 04, 05 9 3 Tony Rominger SUI 1992, 93, 94 6 3 Alberto Contador ESP 2008, 12, 14 5 3 Primoz Roglic SVN 2019, 20, 21 3 Titles by country Home favourites have traditionally dominated race – winning 31 of 76 editions Spain: 31 France: 9 Belgium: 7 Italy: 6 Switzerland: 5 Others: Germany, Britain, Slovenia 3, Colombia, Netherlands, Russia 2, United States, Ireland, Kazakhstan 1 La Roja Race leader’s red jersey – introduced in 2009 by race director Javier Guillen. Colour already associated with success of national soccer team, nicknamed The Red. Succeeded multiple earlier combinations including inaugural orange jersey of 1935 HIGHEST NUMBER OF DAYS IN LEADER’S JERSEY Alex Zülle SUI (1993, 96, 97, 2000) 48 Primoz Roglic SVN (2019, 20, 21) 36 Roberto Heras ESP (2000, 02, 03, 04 05) 34 Gustaaf Deloor BEL (1935, 36) 32 Delio Rodriguez ESP (1941, 45, 46, 47) 32 Tony Rominger SUI (1992, 93, 94) 32 2022 Route 1 START: Aug 19, Utrecht NETHERLANDS Amsterdam Utrecht 2 ’s-Hertogenbosch GERMANY Breda BELGIUM 3 Vitoria-Gasteiz 4 Laguardia Irun 5 Bilbao 6 Pico del Jano Camargo 7 Cistierna Colláu Fancuaya 8 La Pola Llaviana Villaviciosa 9 Les Praeres Elche 10 Alicante Alhama de Murcia 11 Cabo de Gata Salobreña 12 Ronda 13 Montilla Montoro 14 Sierra de La Pandera Martos 15 Sierra Nevada Sanlúcar de Barrameda 16 Tomares Aracena 17 Monasterio de Tentudía Trujillo 18 Alto de Piornal 19 Talavera de la Reina Moralzarzal 20 Puerto de Navacerrada Las Rozas 21 FINISH: Sep 11, Madrid SPAIN PORTUGAL Stage Stage start Stage finish Rest day Transfer Total race distance 3,280.4km 2022 edition features seven mountain stages, six sprint stages, two flat stages with high altitude finishes, and both team and individual time trials STAGE BREAKDOWN Individual time-trial Team time-trial Mountain stage Sprint stage Stage Aug-Sep km 1 19 23.3 2 20 175.1 3 21 193.5 4 23 152.5 5 24 187.2 6 25 181.2 7 26 190.0 8 27 153.4 9 28 171.4 10 30 30.9 11 31 191.2 12 1 192.7 13 2 168.4 14 3 160.3 15 4 149.6 16 6 189.4 17 7 162.3 18 8 192.0 19 9 138.3 20 10 181.0 21 11 96.7 2021 winner Primoz Roglic Dominant Slovenian cyclist abandoned assault on Tour de France title after dislocating shoulder in crash Race Classifications Jersey colours Overall leader: Red Awarded to race winner and worn by current race leader at start of each stage – calculated by totalling each day’s finishing time Points leader: Green Fastest sprinters compete for points at end of each stage – points adjusted by terrain, with flat stages awarding most points King of the Mountains: Polka dot Held by rider who proves to be best climber, with more severe climbs offering most points Best young rider: White Awarded to highest placed rider aged 24 or younger on first day of year. Prize first introduced in 2017 La Vuelta: Start to finish 1935: Clemente Lopez Doriga and Juan Pujol, director of Informaciones newspaper, launch Vuelta a España. Gustaaf Deloor (right) of Belgium is first winner 1936: Deloor defends title in longest winning finishing time of 150 hours and seven minutes – race consists of 21 stages and is over 4,300 km long 1937-54: Race suffers several interruptions due to Spanish Civil War and outbreak of World War II 1941: Only Spanish and Swiss riders compete as Julian Berrendero becomes first home winner 1945 Points classification introduced, awarded to most consistent sprinters 1955-56 Appeal of Vuelta increases – Jean Dotto and Angelo Conterno are first winners from France and Italy 1963 Jacques Anquetil (right) wins title to become first rider to win Vuelta, Tour de France and Giro d’Italia 1984: Eric Caritoux defeats Alberto Fernández Blanco by six seconds, smallest margin of victory in Vuelta history 1987: Luis Herrera charges to victory becoming first South American cyclist to win Grand Tour title 1994 Swiss Tomy Rominger becomes first man to win three consecutive Vueltas 1995: 50th edition marks move to September date to avoid clash with other Grand Tours 1997 Tour departs from Lisbon, Portugal – first time race starts outside of Spain 2005 Roberto Heras (right) becomes first four-time winner 2013: American Chris Horner, 41, becomes oldest winner 2021: Primoz Roglic retains crown as race finishes at Santiago de Compostela 2022 Cibeles Palace Race returns to iconic host of winners’ podium in Madrid Source: La Vuelta Pictures: AP, Getty Images, Newscom, Wikimedia Commons, Twitter © GRAPHIC NEWS