Viva la Vuelta!

Authors:

By Lucy Fallon, Adrian Bell

Format:

Paperback

Availability:

In print, usually dispatched within 3-4 days.

Price:

£15.95

Tagged with:

Cycling, Tour of Spain, Advert, Sport & Publicity

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Further Details

• Published: 8th Nov 2005
• ISBN: 1874739404
• Pages: 350

From the Publisher:

In the 70 years that the Vuelta a Espana has been running, it has survived a civil war, four decades of dictatorship, periods of economic and diplomatic isolation, desperate years when the country was close to famine, disruption through political violence, and finally the restoration of democracy and Spain's welcome into the European Community.

The race has changed hands several times and been shifted from spring to late summer. It has seen the triumph of stars like Anquetil, Merckx and Hinault; it has given a range of other top cyclists such as Lucho Herrera and Sean Kelly the opportunity to taste the glory of winning a great stage race; there have also been the unknowns who came along and, out of the blue, surprised everybody by winning. And above all the history of the Vuelta recounts the story of the Spanish cyclists, whose lives reflect the incredible changes their country has undergone in those seventy years.

Viva la Vuelta! is also an account of a race trying to establish itself in an international calendar where the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia had the advantage of a clear head-start. At times the Vuelta has suffered from an inferiority complex, but its current organisers have approached their race with an innovative spirit, always on the look-out for new routes and mountains to climb, and seeking to create dynamic, fiercely contested stages. For many followers of cycle-racing, the most interesting, and excitingly competitive racing of the three major tours in recent years has been in Spain.

From the Book:

“Foreword by Sean Kelly
My memories of the Vuelta will always remain with me. I won the race in 1988, and that victory stands at the top of my palmares. It was the one time I was the overall winner of a major Tour.

I first went to the Vuelta in 1979 - it was my second big Tour after I turned pro (I'd ridden the Tour de France the year before) and I won the first stage. I had a second stage-win a week later, but near the end of the race I became ill and had to pull out. That was a disappointment, but at least I was getting to know the really big Tours, so I suppose you could say it was good experience.

The next season I rode the Vuelta again, and this time I won five stages and finished wearing the points jersey. The big surprise for me, though, was that I was fourth overall. At that time I was concentrating on the one-day races, and supporting the team, and I really didn't think of myself as a big Tour contender.

It was five years before I next rode the Vuelta, and 1985 was the year when Pedro Delgado took the lead from Robert Millar on the last but one stage. I won three stages and the points jersey again, but only finished 9th overall. By then the race was getting a lot bigger and a lot harder - in 1979 there'd only been 90 starters, but by 1985 there was almost double that number. All the same, I had won a few Classics and a good few smaller stage races in the meantime. so I was beginning to think it might be possible for me to win a major tour. The trouble was I raced so much, starting in February, that it was always difficult to be in the special condition you need for a three-week race.

The following year I changed teams and went to Kas - one of the big Spanish team with a long history in cycling - and I finished third overall. I also won a couple of stages and the points jersey for the third time in my career. The owner of Kas was Luis Knorr, a great cycling fan from the Basque country where there's such a lot of enthusiasm for the sport. He was sure I could win the race one day, and he also told me that he wanted me to stay in his Kas team until I retired. Maybe I would have done, but he died in 1988 and the Kas team folded. I was able to repay his confidence, though, eventually. But not before I reached my worst moments in cycling, and then one of my very best.

In 1987 I had to retire just three days before the finish in Madrid. I was wearing the maillot amarillo (leader's jersey) and looking certain for the overall. But for some days I'd been nursing a really bad saddle boil and I just couldn't bear the pain any longer. I had to drop out and leave the race to Lucho Herrera. For the first time in my career I'd been on the point of winning a major Tour, and I had to pull out. That hurt as much as the saddle boil. Later in the season I crashed in the Tour de France and had to retire from that race, as well. It was probably the worst year of my career.

I said at the time that losing the Vuelta like that was a thorn in my side, and I returned in 1988, determined to pull it out. And I did. It was a very special feeling. I also took the points jersey for the fourth time, and had a couple of stage-wins. It still remains the highpoint of my career - my win in the Tour of Spain.

Overall, Spain was always very good to me. I raced a lot there during my 18-year career, and I think the teams I rode for, and those passionate bike fans, appreciated my efforts. They gave me great support, that's for sure.

There were times when I felt I could have been at home in Ireland racing in the Nissan. I won the main one-week Tours, in the Basque Country and in Catalonia more than once, but none of that compared with riding into Madrid with the leader's jersey after three weeks of the Vuelta.

This book takes me back to those years - to the good times and the times of despair. It makes me remember the stages, the riders, the teams and the battles we had, and the travelling through that mountainous country. A great race needs a great book like this so that it can live for ever.”