1988 Vuelta a España

The 1988 Vuelta a España was the 43rd Edition Vuelta a España, taking place from 25 April to 15 May 1988. It was a bicycle race which consisted of 20 stages over 3,425 km (2,128 mi), ridden at an average speed of 38.506 km/h (23.927 mph). Sean Kelly started the race as the principal favourite after performance in the 1987 Vuelta a España in which he was leading the General classification with several days remaining in the race when he was forced to withdraw due to injury. Luis "Lucho" Herrera returned to defend his title while 1985 Vuelta winner Pedro Delgado had decided to ride the 1988 Giro d'Italia in preparation for the 1988 Tour de France. The BH team directed by Javier Mínguez, presented solid opposition with the strong climbers Álvaro Pino (winner of the 1986 Vuelta a España) and Anselmo Fuerte. In the end, Kelly won the race and became the first Irish winner of the Vuelta a España, completing a hat-trick of consecutive Irish Grand Tour victories: Stephen Roche having won the 1987 Giro d'Italia and the 1987 Tour de France.^[1]

1988 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	25 April – 15 May
Stages	20 + Prologue
Distance	3,425 km (2,128 mi)
Winning time	89h 19' 23"
Results
Winner  Sean Kelly (IRL) (Kas–Canal 10)   Second  Reimund Dietzen (GER) (Teka)   Third  Anselmo Fuerte (ESP) (BH) Points  Sean Kelly (IRL) (Kas–Canal 10) Mountains  Álvaro Pino (ESP) (BH) Youth  Carlos Muñiz [es] (ESP) (CLAS) Combination  Sean Kelly (IRL) (Kas–Canal 10) Sprints  Miguel Ángel Iglesias (ESP) (Helios–CR [es])   Team BH
← 1987 1989 →

Route

The first stage introduced an innovative format of five heats, each with two riders per team, with the team leaders appearing in the final heat.^[2]

List of stages^[3][4]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner	GC leader
1	25 April	Santa Cruz de Tenerife	17.4 km (10.8 mi)		Individual time trial	Ettore Pastorelli (ITA)	Ettore Pastorelli (ITA)
2	26 April	San Cristóbal de La Laguna– Santa Cruz de Tenerife	210 km (130 mi)			Iñaki Gastón (ESP)	Laudelino Cubino (ESP)
3	27 April	Las Palmas–Las Palmas	34 km (21 mi)		Team time trial	BH
4	28 April	Alcalá del Río–Badajoz	210 km (130 mi)			Mathieu Hermans (NED)
5	29 April	Badajoz–Béjar	234 km (145 mi)			Francisco Navarro (ESP)
6	30 April	Béjar–Valladolid	202 km (126 mi)			Mathieu Hermans (NED)
7	1 May	Valladolid–León	160 km (99 mi)			Mathieu Hermans (NED)
8	2 May	León–Brañillín [es]	176.7 km (109.8 mi)			Álvaro Pino (ESP)
9	3 May	Oviedo–Monte Naranco	6.8 km (4.2 mi)		Individual time trial	Álvaro Pino (ESP)
10	4 May	Oviedo–Santander	197.3 km (122.6 mi)			Mathieu Hermans (NED)
11	5 May	Santander–Valdezcaray	217.2 km (135.0 mi)			Sean Kelly (IRL)
12	6 May	Logroño–Jaca	197.5 km (122.7 mi)			Sean Yates (GBR)
13	7 May	Jaca–Cerler	178.2 km (110.7 mi)			Fabio Parra (COL)
14	8 May	Benasque–Andorra	190.3 km (118.2 mi)			Iñaki Gastón (ESP)
15	9 May	La Seu d'Urgell–Sant Quirze del Vallès	166 km (103 mi)			Johnny Weltz (DEN)
16	10 May	Valencia–Albacete	192 km (119 mi)			Mathieu Hermans (NED)	Anselmo Fuerte (ESP)
17	11 May	Albacete–Toledo	244.4 km (151.9 mi)			Malcolm Elliott (GBR)
18	12 May	Toledo–Ávila	212.5 km (132.0 mi)			Juan Martínez Oliver (ESP)
19	13 May	Ávila–Segovia	150 km (93 mi)			Ángel Ocaña (ESP)
20	14 May	Las Rozas–Villalba	30 km (19 mi)		Individual time trial	Sean Kelly (IRL)	Sean Kelly (IRL)
21	15 May	Villalba–Madrid	202 km (126 mi)			Mathieu Hermans (NED)
	Total		3,425 km (2,128 mi)

Results

Final General classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Sean Kelly	Kas-Mavic	89h 19' 23"
2	Reimund Dietzen	Teka-Mavi-Alanc	+ 1' 27"
3	Anselmo Fuerte	BH	+ 1' 29"
4	Laudelino Cubino	BH	+ 2' 17"
5	Fabio Parra Pinto	Kelme	+ 2' 25"
6	Robert Millar	Fagor-MBK	+ 3' 22"
7	Jesús Blanco Villar	Teka-Mavi-Alanc	+ 8' 19"
8	Álvaro Pino	BH	+ 8' 25"
9	Eddy Schepers	Fagor-MBK	+ 9' 45"
10	Roberto Córdoba Asensi	BH	+ 10' 28"
11	Éric Caritoux	Kas-Mavic
12	William Palacio Navarro	Reynolds-Pinarello
13	Federico Echave Musatadi	BH
14	Jokin Mújika Aramburu	Caja Rural–Orbea
15	Franco Votolo	Carrera Jeans–Vagabond
16	Martín Ramírez	Café de Colombia
17	José Luis Laguía	Reynolds-Pinarello
18	Mariano Sanchez Martinez	Teka-Mavi-Alanc
19	Martin Earley	Kas-Mavic
20	Luis Herrera	Café de Colombia
21	Carlos Jaramillo	Postobón
22	Luc Suykerbuyk	Zahor Chocolates
23	Pello Ruiz Cabestany	Kas-Mavic
24	Vicente Ridaura	Caja Rural–Orbea
25	Juan Tomas Martinez Gutierrez	Zahor Chocolates

KOM Classification

	Cyclist	Team	Points
1	Álvaro Pino	BH	100
2	Anselmo Fuerte	BH	62
3	Sean Kelly	KAS	60

Points Classification

	Cyclist	Team	Points
1	Sean Kelly	KAS	248
2	Mathieu Hermans	CAJ	166
3	Benny Van Brabant	ZAH	138

Team classification

	Team	Country	Time
1	BH	Spain	-

Best First Year Professional

	Cyclist	Team	Time
1	Carlos Muñiz Menéndez	CLAS