1973 Vuelta a España

The 28th Edition 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. Merckx won six stages in this edition and Gerben Karstens won four.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

1973 Vuelta a España

Race details
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
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
← 1972 1974 →

Teams

A total of eight teams were invited to participate in the 1973 Vuelta a España.^[9] Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 80 cyclists.^[9] 62 cyclists reached the finish in San Sebastián.^[10]

The teams entering the race were:^[9]

KAS Bic La Casera Molteni

Peugeot-B.P. Coelima-Benfica

Monte Verde Rokado

Route and stages

Stage characteristics and results^[11]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	26 April	Calp to Calp	5 km (3 mi)		Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
1	27 April	Calp to Murcia	187 km (116 mi)			Pieter Nassen (BEL)
2	28 April	Murcia to Albacete	156 km (97 mi)			Gerben Karstens (NED)
3	29 April	Albacete to Alcázar de San Juan	146 km (91 mi)			Pieter Nassen (BEL)
4	30 April	Alcázar de San Juan to Cuenca	169 km (105 mi)			Jos Deschoenmaecker (BEL)
5	1 May	Cuenca to Teruel	191 km (119 mi)			Gerben Karstens (NED)
6a	2 May	Teruel to La Pobla de Farnals	150 km (93 mi)			Roger Swerts (BEL)
6b		La Pobla de Farnals	5 km (3 mi)		Team time trial	Molteni
7	3 May	La Pobla de Farnals to Castellón de la Plana	165 km (103 mi)			Gerben Karstens (NED)
8	4 May	Castellón de la Plana to Calafell	245 km (152 mi)			Eddy Merckx (BEL)
9a	5 May	Calafell to Barcelona	80 km (50 mi)			Juan Manuel Santisteban (ESP)
9b		Barcelona to Barcelona	37.9 km (24 mi)		Individual time trial	Jacques Esclassan (FRA)
10	6 May	Barcelona to Empuriabrava	171 km (106 mi)			Eddy Merckx (BEL)
11	7 May	Empuriabrava to Manresa	225 km (140 mi)			Bernard Thévenet (FRA)
12	8 May	Manresa to Zaragoza	259 km (161 mi)			Gerben Karstens (NED)
13	9 May	Mallén to Irache [es]	175 km (109 mi)			Domingo Perurena (ESP)
14	10 May	Irache [es] to Bilbao	182 km (113 mi)			Juan Zurano (ESP)
15a	11 May	Bilbao to Torrelavega	154 km (96 mi)			Eddy Peelman (BEL)
15b		Torrelavega to Torrelavega	17.4 km (11 mi)		Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
16	12 May	Torrelavega to Miranda de Ebro	203 km (126 mi)			Eddy Merckx (BEL)
17a	13 May	Miranda de Ebro to Tolosa, Gipuzkoa	127 km (79 mi)			Eddy Peelman (BEL)
17b		Hernani to San Sebastián	10.5 km (7 mi)		Individual time trial	Eddy Merckx (BEL)
	Total		3,016.8 km (1,875 mi)

Classification leadership

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.^[10] This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Vuelta.

For the points classification, which awarded a light blue jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15; additional points could also be won in intermediate sprints. The green jersey was awarded to the mountains classification leader.^[10] In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. The combination classification awarded a red jersey to its leader.^[10]

Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of the best three cyclists per team were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time.

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Combination classification	Team classification
P	Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx	not awarded	not awarded	not awarded	not awarded
1	Pieter Nassen		Pieter Nassen	Domingo Perurena		Rokado
2	Gerben Karstens	Gerben Karstens	Gerben Karstens		Javier Elorriaga & Jean-Jacques Fussien
3	Pieter Nassen		Pieter Nassen	José Luis Abilleira	Jean-Jacques Fussien
4	Jos Deschoenmaecker	José Pesarrodona				KAS
5	Gerben Karstens		Gerben Karstens
6a	Roger Swerts				José Luis Galdamez	Molteni
6b	Molteni
7	Gerben Karstens				Eddy Merckx
8	Eddy Merckx
9a	Juan Manuel Santisteban
9b	Jacques Esclassan
10	Eddy Merckx
11	Bernard Thévenet	Eddy Merckx				La Casera
12	Gerben Karstens
13	Domingo Perurena
14	Juan Zurano
15a	Eddy Peelman		Eddy Merckx
15b	Eddy Merckx
16	Eddy Merckx
17a	Eddy Peelman
17b	Eddy Merckx
Final		Eddy Merckx	Eddy Merckx	José Luis Abilleira	Eddy Merckx	La Casera

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification		Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification
	Denotes the winner of the Points classification		Denotes the winner of the Combination classification

General Classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[10]

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	84h 40' 50"
2	Luis Ocaña (ESP)	Bic	+ 3' 46"
3	Bernard Thévenet (FRA)	Peugeot-B.P.	+ 4' 16"
4	José Pesarrodona (ESP)	KAS	+ 5' 54"
5	Pedro Torres (ESP)	La Casera	+ 7' 29"
6	Joaquim Agostinho (POR)	Bic	+ 8' 15"
7	Agustín Tamames (ESP)	La Casera	+ 9' 15"
8	Luis Balagué (ESP)	La Casera	+ 12' 26"
9	Roger Swerts (BEL)	Molteni	+ 13' 27"
10	Jesús Manzaneque (ESP)	La Casera	+ 15' 01"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–3)^[10]

	Rider	Team	Points
1	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	215.5
2	Roger Swerts (BEL)	Molteni	162.5
3	Pieter Nassen (BEL)	Rokado	154.5

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–4)^[10]

	Rider	Team	Points
1	José Luis Abilleira (ESP)	La Casera	97
2	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	83
3	Luis Balagué (ESP)	La Casera	60
4	Pedro Torres (ESP)	La Casera	50

Combination classification

Final combination classification (1–3)^[10]

	Rider	Team	Points
1	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	18
2	José Luis Abilleira (ESP)	La Casera	11
3	José Luis Galdamez (ESP)	Coelima-Benfica	6

Team classification

Final team classification (1–8)^[10]

	Team	Time
1	La Casera	254h 01' 59"
2	Bic	+ 4' 44"
3	Molteni	+ 6' 24"
4	KAS	+ 11' 28"
5	Monte Verde	+ 29' 01"
6	Coelima-Benfica	+ 32' 03"
7	Peugeot-B.P.	+ 32' 51"
8	Rokado	+ 51' 22"

Intermediate sprints classification

Final intermediate sprints classification (1–10)^[10]

	Rider	Team	Points
1	Eddy Merckx (BEL)	Molteni	26
2	Javier Elorriaga (ESP)	KAS	24
3	José Luis Galdamez (ESP)	Coelima-Benfica	15
4	Fernando Mendes (POR)	Coelima-Benfica	10
5	Eddy Peelman (BEL)	Rokado	9
6	José Luis Abilleira (ESP)	La Casera	6
7	Domingo Perurena (ESP)	KAS
8	Jan Van de Wiele (BEL)	Rokado
9	Joseph Bruyère (BEL)	Molteni	5
10	Roger Swerts (BEL)	Molteni

References

Citations

1. "General Information 1973". La Vuelta.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
2. "Merckx, ilegó, vio y venció". El Mundo Deportivo. 14 May 1973. p. 30.
3. "28 Vuelta Ciclista a España 1973, El número 1 se mostró intocable". El Mundo Deportivo. p. 32. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
4. "Merckx, total dominador de la Vuelta a España, que finalizó el domingo". Los sitios. 15 May 1973. p. 11. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
5. "28 Vuelta Ciclista a España – Clasificacion Oficial de la Etapa Preliminar" (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo. 27 April 1973. p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 November 2020.
6. "Hemeroteca Digital. Biblioteca Nacional de España".
7. "Hemeroteca Digital. Biblioteca Nacional de España".
8. "Hemeroteca Digital. Biblioteca Nacional de España".
9. "Los Dorsales de Los 80 Participantes" [The numbers worn by 80 participants] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 26 April 1973. p. 18. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
10. "Clasificaciones oficiales" [Official classifications] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 14 May 1973. p. 31. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
11. "Resumen etapas y kilometraje" [Summary stages and mileage] (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 26 April 1973. p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2012.