The 31st 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 27 April to 16 May 1976. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of 3,340 km, and was won by José Pesarrodona

José Pesarrodona

José Pesarrodona Altimi is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer who raced during the 1970s. Pesarrodona won the 1976 Vuelta a España ahead of Luis Ocaña and Jose Nazabal of Spain...

 of the Kas-Campagnolo

Kas (cycling team)

Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...

 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...

. Andres Oliva won the mountains classification while Dietrich Thurau

Dietrich Thurau

Dietrich Thurau is a retired German professional road bicycle racer. His biggest career achievements include winning the one-day classic, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, his home country's Deutschland Tour and surprising the field at the 1977 Tour de France by capturing four stages and holding the yellow...

 won the points classification.

Doping case

When Belgian cyclist Eric Jacques finished in second place in the eighth stage, he became the new leader. Later, it became known that he tested positive for doping after that stage, and he received a penalty of ten minutes.

Final General Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Spain José Pesarrodona José Pesarrodona José Pesarrodona Altimi is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer who raced during the 1970s. Pesarrodona won the 1976 Vuelta a España ahead of Luis Ocaña and Jose Nazabal of Spain...	Kas-Campagnolo Kas (cycling team) Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...	93h 19' 10s
2	Spain Luis Ocana Luis Ocaña Jesús Luis Ocaña Pernía was a Spanish road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1973 and the Vuelta a España in 1970.- Early professional career :...	Super Ser Zeus	a 1' 03s
3	Spain José Nazabal Merendia	Kas-Campagnolo Kas (cycling team) Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...	a 1' 41s
4	Germany Dietrich Thurau Dietrich Thurau Dietrich Thurau is a retired German professional road bicycle racer. His biggest career achievements include winning the one-day classic, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, his home country's Deutschland Tour and surprising the field at the 1977 Tour de France by capturing four stages and holding the yellow...	TI-Raleigh TI-Raleigh TI-Raleigh was a Dutch professional road bicycle racing team between 1974 and 1983. The team was created and led by Peter Post.The team was successful in classics and in stage races. Riders included Joop Zoetemelk, Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann, Hennie Kuiper, Dave Lloyd, Urs Freuler, Henk Lubberding,...	a 1' 44s
5	Spain Vicente Lopez	Kas-Campagnolo Kas (cycling team) Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...	a 1' 50s
6	Netherlands Hennie Kuiper Hennie Kuiper Hennie Kuiper is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist. His career includes a gold medal in the Olympic road race at Munich in 1972, becoming world professional road race champion in 1975, as well as winning four of the five “Monument” classics...	TI-Raleigh TI-Raleigh TI-Raleigh was a Dutch professional road bicycle racing team between 1974 and 1983. The team was created and led by Peter Post.The team was successful in classics and in stage races. Riders included Joop Zoetemelk, Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann, Hennie Kuiper, Dave Lloyd, Urs Freuler, Henk Lubberding,...	a 2' 00s
7	Portugal Joaquim Agostinho Joaquim Agostinho Joaquim Fernandes Agostinho, OIH was a Portuguese professional bicycle racer. He was champion of Portugal in six successive years. He rode the Tour de France 13 times and finished all but once, winning on Alpe d'Huez in 1979, and finishing 3rd twice...	Teka	a 3' 16s
8	Switzerland Joseph Fuchs	Super Ser Zeus	a 3' 45s
9	Spain Pedro Torres	Super Ser Zeus	a 4' 43s
10	Spain José Antonio Gonzalez	Kas-Campagnolo Kas (cycling team) Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...	a 7' 18s
11	Belgium Ludo Loos	Ebo
12	Spain Enrique Martinez	Kas-Campagnolo Kas (cycling team) Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...
13	Spain Andes Oliva	Kas-Campagnolo Kas (cycling team) Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...
14	Spain Gonzalo Aja Barguin	Teka
15	Portugal José Martins Fretas	Kas-Campagnolo Kas (cycling team) Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...
16	Belgium Eric Jacques	Ebo
17	Spain Domingo Perurena Domingo Perurena Domingo Perurena Telletxea is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. He is most famous for winning the overall classification in the Mountains classification of 1974 Tour de France. He also finished second overall of 1975 Vuelta a España and won a total of 12 stages in this...	Kas-Campagnolo Kas (cycling team) Kas was a professional cycling team of the 1960s and 1970s, one of the strongest Spanish teams. It was sponsored by a soft drinks manufacturer, Kas. The team was from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. It wore team a yellow jersey with Kas written in blue...
18	Belgium Jean-Pierre Baert	Miko-De Gribaldy
19	Spain José Enrique Cima	Novostil
20	Portugal Fernardo Mendes Dos	Teka
21	Spain Ventura Diaz	Teka
22	Spain Santiago Lazcano	Super Ser Zeus
23	Spain Julian Andiano	Teka
24	Spain Manuel Esparza	Teka
25	Spain Jesus Manzaneque	Super Ser Zeus

External links

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