King Kelly reigns in Spain: Retracing Ireland's first Vuelta a España victory
Sean Kelly recounts the story of Ireland's first ever win in the Vuelta a España to James Shrubsall
Vuelta a España
When: August 24 to September 15 2019
Where: Spain
UCI category: WorldTour
Key links: Route | Start list | TV Guide
The Vuelta a España is the third and final Grand Tour of the summer race season, and the Spanish race always provides an exciting finale to the year for GC specialists.
Renowned for its testing parcours and plethora of summit finishes, the Vuelta represents an immense challenge and several riders have tried and failed to win it in the same season as another Grand Tour.
The 2019 route for the Vuelta a España has been described by the organisers as even “more spicy”, with a depart in Alicante and a brief detour into France as well as three brand new summit finishes.
There will be up to eight summit finishes in total, and two time trials.
The race has Costa Blanca start, and the province will play home to three stages, including an opening team time trial in Torrevieja.
The second time trial will be between 36km long, and comes in the second week in Pau, France.
Vuelta a España: past winners
2000 Roberto Herasdagger (Esp) Kelme–Costa Blanca
2001 Ángel Casero (Esp) Festina
2002 Aitor González (Esp) Kelme–Costa Blanca
2003 Roberto Heras (Esp) U.S. Postal Service
2004 Roberto Heras (Esp) Liberty Seguros
2005 Roberto Heras (Esp) Liberty Seguros–Würth
2006 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
2007 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
2008 Alberto Contador (Esp) Astana
2009 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Caisse d’Epargne
2010 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas–Doimo
2011 Juan José Cobo (Esp) Geox–TMC
2012 Alberto Contador (Esp) Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank
2013 Chris Horner (USA) RadioShack–Leopard
2014 Alberto Contador (Esp) Tinkoff–Saxo
2015 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana
2016 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
2017 Chris Froome (GBR) Team Sky
2018 Simon Yates (GBR) Mitchelton–Scott
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Rémi Cavagna makes sensational solo effort to win Vuelta a España 2019 stage 19
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