1990 1990 Vuelta a España The 45th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 24 to May 15, 1990. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3711 km, and was won by Marco Giovannetti of the Seur cycling team.Defending champion Pedro Delgado was the... << Vuelta a España 1991 >> 1992 1992 Vuelta a España The 47th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 27 to May 17, 1992...
Classifications	20 stages, 3215 km
General	Melchor Mauri Melchor Mauri Melcior Mauri Prat is a retired Spanish professional cyclist who won the 1991 Vuelta a España. He has also won numerous other small stage races, mainly due to his abilities as a time triallist, and is a former World silver medallist in this discipline.In November 2007 he won the second edition of... 82:48:07h
Points	Uwe Raab 169 p.
Mountains	Luis Herrera Luis Herrera Luis Alberto "Lucho" Herrera Herrera known as "el jardinerito" is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist... 157 p.
Teams	Team ONCE 248:36:35 h

The 46th Vuelta a España

Vuelta a España

The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...

(Tour of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

), a long-distance bicycle

Bicycle racing

Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...

 stage

Stage (bicycle race)

In sports, a stage, or leg, or heat, is a unit of a race which has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages are held as an individual time trial or a...

 race and one of the 3 grand tours

Grand Tour (cycling)

In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races:* Tour de France – Tour of France , held in July* Giro d'Italia – Tour of Italy , held in May...

, was held from April 29 to May 19, 1991. It consisted of 20 stages covering a total of 3215 km, and was won by Melchor Mauri

Melchor Mauri

Melcior Mauri Prat is a retired Spanish professional cyclist who won the 1991 Vuelta a España. He has also won numerous other small stage races, mainly due to his abilities as a time triallist, and is a former World silver medallist in this discipline.In November 2007 he won the second edition of...

 of the ONCE cycling team

Cycling team

A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle races whether recreational or professional - and the supporting personnel...

.

Miguel Induráin

Miguel Indurain

Miguel Ángel Indurain Larraya is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. He won five consecutive Tour de Frances from 1991 and 1995, the first to do so, and the fourth athlete to win five times. He won the Giro d'Italia twice, becoming one of only seven people in history to achieve the Giro Tour...

, Laudelino Cubino

Laudelino Cubino

Laudelino Cubino González is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. He was born in Béjar, Spain.- Palmarès :19861987Laudelino Cubino González is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist...

 and Anselmo Fuerte were the Spanish favourites for the race. Defending champion Marco Giovannetti

Marco Giovannetti

Marco Giovannetti is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer and Olympic gold medalist who won the Vuelta a España in 1990. He has also won stages at the Tour de Suisse and the Giro d'Italia....

 was also a favourite together with Steven Rooks

Steven Rooks

Steven Rooks is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist known for his climbing ability. His professional career ran from 1982–1995.- Tour de France :...

, Raúl Alcalá

Raul Alcala

Raúl Alcalá is a professional road racing cyclist, who competed between 1985 and 1999 and again in 2008. In 1986, Alcalá became the first Mexican cyclist to compete in the Tour de France. In the 1987 Tour de France, he received the Maillot blanc, awarded to the best rider under 25...

 and the Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

ns Fabio Parra

Fabio Parra

Fabio Enrique Parra Pinto is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Parra was successful as an amateur in Colombia, winning the Novatos classification for new riders or riders riding their first edition of the race, and finishing 14th in the 1979 Vuelta a Colombia and then the General...

 and Luis ‘Lucho’ Herrera

Luis Herrera

Luis Alberto "Lucho" Herrera Herrera known as "el jardinerito" is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist...

.

In the end Melchor Mauri was the revelation of the race and beat the future winner of the Tour de France Miguel Indurain in all the time trials. Indurain was forced to ride an aggressive race in the mountain stages but Mauri was able to defend his lead.
The prologue consisted, on this occasion, of a three-man Team Time Trial. The winning trio consisted of ONCE's Melchor Mauri, Anselmo Fuerte and Herminio Díaz-Zabala. Coupled with ONCE's win in the following day's Team Time Trial, meant the leader's jersey alternated between these three riders for the first week of the race. The team time trial would turn out to have a large impact as Induráin lost almost two minutes to Mauri on this stage.
Stage 7, a 47km Individual Time Trial, was the first decisive stage of the Vuelta. Riders such as Laudelino Cubino and Anselmo Fuerte lost most of their chnaces that day. Mauri increased his lead by winning the stage, a little less than a minute ahead of Induráin.
The Pyrenean stages were awaited with anticipation, to see if ONCE's Catalunyan rider would be capable of withstanding the high mountains. However, the queen stage ending at Pla de Beret had to be suspended due to adverse weather. Russian rider Ivan Ivanov won the 11th stage to the mountaintop ski resort at Cerler, but Mauri held on, losing less than a minute to Induráin.
Stage 13 was a mountain time trial finishing at the Ski station in Valdezcaray, where Parra and Herrera set the leading times. Mauri once again put in a good performance, gaining more time on Induráin and leading the general classification ahead of his teammate Lejarreta, Echave and Induráin.
The third and final week of the race featured two high mountain stages in the Cordillera Cantábrica mountain rage: the historic ascensions to the Alto del Naranco and the Covadonga Lakes. Herrera and Cubino took the stages, but Mauri managed to hang on. Mauri lost some time, but not enough to lose his overall lead. At this point he was the leader and there was still one time trial to go.
Mauri didn't disappoint, winning the Valladolid time trial ahead of Induráin by over a minute to seal his Vuelta win. He would never again perform at such a high standard. Induráin finished second overall, and Lejarreta third.

Final General Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Melchor Mauri Melchor Mauri Melcior Mauri Prat is a retired Spanish professional cyclist who won the 1991 Vuelta a España. He has also won numerous other small stage races, mainly due to his abilities as a time triallist, and is a former World silver medallist in this discipline.In November 2007 he won the second edition of...	ONCE	82h 48' 07s
2	Miguel Induráin Miguel Indurain Miguel Ángel Indurain Larraya is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. He won five consecutive Tour de Frances from 1991 and 1995, the first to do so, and the fourth athlete to win five times. He won the Giro d'Italia twice, becoming one of only seven people in history to achieve the Giro Tour...	Banesto	a 2' 52s
3	Marino Lejarreta Marino Lejarreta Marino Lejarreta Arrizabalaga is a retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist. His biggest victory was capturing the 1982 Vuelta a España, a Grand Tour stage race, and he is the inaugural and record three-time winner of the Clásica de San Sebastián , which is now considered a one-day classic...	ONCE	a 3' 11s
4	Federico Echave Federico Echave Federico Echave Musatadi is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the prestigious stage up to Alpe d'Huez in 1987 Tour de France.- Major results :1982 - Teka1983 - Teka1984 - Teka1985 - Teka...	CLAS-Cajastur	a 3' 54s
5	Fabio Parra Fabio Parra Fabio Enrique Parra Pinto is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Parra was successful as an amateur in Colombia, winning the Novatos classification for new riders or riders riding their first edition of the race, and finishing 14th in the 1979 Vuelta a Colombia and then the General...	Amaya Seguros	a 5' 38s
6	Pello Ruiz Cabestany	CLAS-Cajastur	a 6' 50s
7	Raúl Alcalá Raul Alcala Raúl Alcalá is a professional road racing cyclist, who competed between 1985 and 1999 and again in 2008. In 1986, Alcalá became the first Mexican cyclist to compete in the Tour de France. In the 1987 Tour de France, he received the Maillot blanc, awarded to the best rider under 25...	PDM-Concorde PDM (cycling team) PDM-Concorde also PDM-Ultima was a Dutch professional cycling team from 1986 until the end of 1992. Gin-MG was co-sponsor in Spanish races and Cidona was co-sponsor in the 1991 Nissan Classic. The team was sponsored by Philips Dupont Magnetics, a joint venture between the electronics company,...	a 6' 57s
8	Piotr Ugrumov Piotr Ugrumov Piotr Ugrumov is a former Russian professional road racing cyclist who participated for Latvia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, though he was a part of the Russian delegation at the 1996 Summer Olympics. His career as a professional lasted from 1989 to 1999, he had ten victories...	Seur	a 10' 43s
9	Steven Rooks Steven Rooks Steven Rooks is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist known for his climbing ability. His professional career ran from 1982–1995.- Tour de France :...	Buckler	a 12' 09s
10	Oliverio Rincón	Kelme	a 12' 11s
11	Eduardo Chozas	ONCE
12	Tom Cordes	PDM-Ultima-Concorde
13	Luis Herrera Luis Herrera Luis Alberto "Lucho" Herrera Herrera known as "el jardinerito" is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist...	Ryalco-Postobon Postóbon (cycling team) Postobón was a Colombian based professional road bicycle racing cycling team active from 1986 to 1996. The team was sponsored by the Colombian beverage manufacturers Postobón...
14	Ignacio Gaston Crespo	CLAS-Cajastur
15	Laudelino Cubino Gonzalez	Amaya
16	Jon Unzaga Bombin	Seur
17	Udo Bölts Udo Bölts Udo Bölts in Rodalben is a retired German racing cyclist, the brother of Hartmut Bölts.Bölts is one of the most successful German cyclists, and from the beginning of his career he distinguished himself as a coureageous rider who liked to get into breakaways...	Telekom-Mercedes-Merckx
18	Marco Giovannetti	Gatorade-Chateau d'Ax
19	Ivan Ivanov	Seur
20	Fernando Martinez De Guerenu	Puertas Mavisa
21	Francisco-Javier Mauleon	CLAS-Cajastur
22	Alvaro Meija Castrillon	Ryalco-Postobon Postóbon (cycling team) Postobón was a Colombian based professional road bicycle racing cycling team active from 1986 to 1996. The team was sponsored by the Colombian beverage manufacturers Postobón...
23	Jesus Montoya Alarcon	Amaya
24	Vicente Ridaura Sebastian	Artiach-Royal
25	Gerardo Moncada Gerardo Moncada Gerardo Moncada Guiza is a retired male road cyclist from Colombia, who was a professional from 1986 to 1994.-Career:198119891990...	Ryalco-Postobon Postóbon (cycling team) Postobón was a Colombian based professional road bicycle racing cycling team active from 1986 to 1996. The team was sponsored by the Colombian beverage manufacturers Postobón...

External links

• La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French)