1973 Vuelta a España
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 26 April – 13 May | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 17 stages + Prologue, including 4 split stages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,061.8 km (1,903 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 84h 40' 50" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 |
Winner |
 Eddy Merckx (BEL)
|
(Molteni) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second |
 Luis Ocaña (ESP)
|
(Bic) | |
| Third |
 Bernard Thévenet (FRA)
|
(Peugeot-B.P.) | |
|
|
|||
 |
Points |
Eddy Merckx (BEL)
|
(Molteni) |
 |
Mountains |
José Luis Abilleira (ESP)
|
(La Casera) |
 |
Combination |
Eddy Merckx (BEL)
|
(Molteni) |
| Sprints |
Eddy Merckx (BEL)
|
(Molteni) | |
| Team | La Casera | ||
The 28th Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 26 to May 13, 1973. It consisted of 17 stages covering a total of 3,061 km, and was won by Eddy Merckx of the Molteni cycling team. As Merckx had already won several editions of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia with his win in the Vuelta, he became the third cyclist after Jacques Anquetil and Felice Gimondi to win all three grand tours in his career. Merckx went on to win the 1973 Giro d'Italia and became the first cyclist to win the Vuelta-Giro double. Merckx also won the points classification and José Luis Abilleira won the mountains classification. With Merckx finishing first, Ocaña second and Thévenet third the podium of the 1973 Vuelta contained one previous winner and two future winners of the Tour de France making it one of the best podiums in the history of the race, according to the official race website. Gerben Karstens won 4 stages in this Vuelta
A total of eight teams were invited to participate in the 1973 Vuelta a España. Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 80 cyclists. From the riders that began this edition, made it to the finish on the San Sebastián.
The teams entering the race were:
Four different jerseys were worn during the 1973 Vuelta a España. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a golden jersey. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Vuelta.
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Wikipedia