2009 Vuelta a España
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The 2009 Vuelta a España was the 64th Vuelta a España. The event took place from 29 August to 20 September 2009. For only the second time in the race's history, it began away from Spanish soil, with the race not in fact reaching Spain until Stage 5.
2009 UCI World Ranking, race 23 of 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dates | 29 August–20 September | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stages | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance | 3,292.3 km (2,046 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Winning time | 87h 22' 37" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2009 Vuelta has been described as having an easy start and a hard finish.[1] This is because of the short individual time trial and three perfectly flat stages in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium (along with another in Spain in the race's first week), and eight of the final fourteen stages being mountain stages, with four mountaintop finishes.
The race was won by Spain's Alejandro Valverde who claimed his first grand tour victory.[2][3]