1995 Vuelta a España

1995 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	2–24 September
Stages	21 + Prologue
Distance	3,750 km (2,330 mi)
Winning time	95h 30' 33"
Results
Winner  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) (ONCE)   Second  Abraham Olano (ESP) (Mapei–GB–Latexco)   Third  Johan Bruyneel (BEL) (ONCE) Points  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) (ONCE) Mountains  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) (ONCE) Sprints  Steffen Wesemann (GER) (Team Telekom)   Team ONCE

The 50th Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 2 September to 24 September 1995. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3,750 km (2,330 mi), and was won by Laurent Jalabert of the ONCE cycling team. Jalabert won the three classification competitions – the general classification, the points classification and the mountains classification being only the third rider (after Eddy Merckx in the 1968 Giro d'Italia and the 1969 Tour de France, and Tony Rominger in the 1993 Vuelta a España) to win all three major classifications in a Grand Tour.^[1][2][3][4]

The 1995 Vuelta was the first edition that was not held in April and May, as had previously been the case, but instead in September as the last of the three Grand Tours of the year. This was done to attract more high-profile riders, who before had preferred to ride the Giro d'Italia or the Tour de France, which both took place very closely to the Vuelta's timeslot.^[5]

Background

For a more comprehensive list, see List of teams and cyclists in the 1995 Vuelta a España.

The Mapei squad arrived in disarray, after one of their lead riders, Fernando Escartín, announced that he would move to Kelme the following year. He was therefore left out of the team, which was led by Abraham Olano. The starting field also included Laurent Jalabert, Alex Zülle, former winner Melcior Mauri (all ONCE), Marco Pantani (Carrera Jeans–Tassoni) and a then unknown Jan Ullrich (Team Telekom) in his first ever Grand Tour appearance.^[6]

Route and stages

Stage characteristics and winners

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	2 September	Zaragoza	7 km (4.3 mi)		Individual time trial	Abraham Olano (ESP)
1	3 September	Zaragoza to Logroño	186.6 km (115.9 mi)		Plain stage	Nicola Minali (ITA)
2	4 September	San Asensio to Santander	223.5 km (138.9 mi)		Plain stage	Gianluca Pianegonda (ITA)
3	5 September	Santander to Alto del Naranco	206.0 km (128.0 mi)		Hilly stage	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
4	6 September	Tapia de Casariego to A Coruña	82.6 km (51.3 mi)		Plain stage	Marcel Wüst (GER)
5	7 September	A Coruña to Ourense	179.8 km (111.7 mi)		Plain stage	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
6	8 September	Ourense to Zamora	264.0 km (164.0 mi)		Plain stage	Nicola Minali (ITA)
7	9 September	Salamanca	41.0 km (25.5 mi)		Individual time trial	Abraham Olano (ESP)
8	10 September	Salamanca to Ávila	219.8 km (136.6 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
9	11 September	Ávila to Palazuelos de Eresma	122.5 km (76.1 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Jesper Skibby (DEN)
10	12 September	Córdoba to Seville	208.5 km (129.6 mi)		Plain stage	Jeroen Blijlevens (NED)
11	13 September	Seville to Marbella	162.5 km (101.0 mi)		Plain stage	Nicola Minali (ITA)
12	14 September	Marbella to Sierra Nevada	238.5 km (148.2 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Bert Dietz (GER)
13	15 September	Olula del Río to Murcia	181.0 km (112.5 mi)		Hilly stage	Christian Henn (GER)
14	16 September	Elche to Valencia	207.0 km (128.6 mi)		Plain stage	Marcel Wüst (GER)
15	17 September	Barcelona to Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys	154.0 km (95.7 mi)		Hilly stage	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
	18 September	Rest day
16	19 September	Tàrrega to Pla de Beret	197.3 km (122.6 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Alex Zülle (SUI)
17	20 September	Salardu (Naut Aran) to Luz Ardiden (France)	179.2 km (111.3 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
18	21 September	Luz-Saint-Sauveur (France) to Sabiñánigo	157.8 km (98.1 mi)		Stage with mountain(s)	Asiat Saitov (RUS)
19	22 September	Sabiñánigo to Calatayud	227.7 km (141.5 mi)		Plain stage	Adriano Baffi (ITA)
20	23 September	Alcalá de Henares	41.6 km (25.8 mi)		Individual time trial	Abraham Olano (ESP)
21	24 September	Alcalá de Henares to Madrid	147.5 km (91.7 mi)		Plain stage	Marcel Wüst (GER)
	Total		3,750 km (2,330 mi)

Race overview

The race started with a prologue time trial in Zaragoza, won by Olano, two seconds ahead of Jalabert. The latter would move into the leader's golden jersey after stage 3, based on a stage win at Alto del Naranco. Olano moved closer in the general classification after the stage-7 time trial in Salamanca, but only gained 23 seconds on Jalabert due to a fall and a puncture along the route. On stage 8 to Ávila, Jalabert attacked almost from the beginning. Olano, left isolated, lost 4:40 minutes and all hopes of winning the Vuelta. Over the course of the two time trials, Olano gained 2:42 minutes on Jalabert, enough to make up for his losses on all stages but the one to Ávila. From this point on, Jalabert only attacked the field close to the finish line, collecting few advantages and some bonus seconds.^[6] His lead was so comfortable that he was able to abort an attack on the way to Sierra Nevada and gift the stage win to escapee Bert Dietz (Team Telekom).^[7]

Classification leadership

Classification leadership by stage^[2]

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification
P	Abraham Olano	Abraham Olano	Abraham Olano	not awarded
1	Nicola Minali		Laurent Jalabert	Marco Artunghi
2	Gianluca Pianegonda	Gianluca Pianegonda		Laurent Jalabert
3	Laurent Jalabert	Laurent Jalabert
4	Marcel Wüst
5	Laurent Jalabert
6	Nicola Minali
7	Abraham Olano
8	Laurent Jalabert
9	Jesper Skibby
10	Jeroen Blijlevens
11	Nicola Minali
12	Bert Dietz
13	Christian Henn
14	Marcel Wüst
15	Laurent Jalabert
16	Alex Zülle
17	Laurent Jalabert
18	Asiat Saitov
19	Adriano Baffi
20	Abraham Olano
21	Marcel Wüst
Final		Laurent Jalabert	Laurent Jalabert	Laurent Jalabert

Final classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)	ONCE	95h 30' 33s
2	Abraham Olano (ESP)	Mapei–GB–Latexco	4' 22s
3	Johan Bruyneel (BEL)	ONCE	6' 48s
4	Melcior Mauri (ESP)	ONCE	8' 04s
5	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Festina–Lotus	11' 38s
6	Roberto Pistore (ITA)	Polti–Vaporetto	11' 54s
7	David García (ESP)	Banesto	13' 50s
8	Daniel Clavero (ESP)	Artiach	15' 03s
9	Michele Bartoli (ITA)	Mercatone Uno–Saeco	19' 14s
10	Stefano Della Santa (ITA)	Mapei–GB	19' 42s

References

Citations

1. "Vuelta 1995 - Equipos" (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo. 1 September 1995. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 November 2020.
2. "Aún ho estoy preparado para con quistar el Tóur" (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo. 25 September 1995. p. 50. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 November 2020.
3. "Vuelta 1995 - Palmarés y records" (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo. 1 September 1995. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2020.
4. "Vuelta 1995 - Clasificaciones" (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo. 25 September 1995. p. 51. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 November 2020.
5. "Did the Vuelta's date change hurt the race?". cyclingnews.com. 27 February 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
6. Arribas, Carlos (5 September 1997). "Aquel septiembre del 95". El País. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
7. Le Touzet, Jean-Louis (15 September 1995). "Laurent Jalabert, grand seigneur de la VueltaIl avait l'étape dans la poche, mais laisse gagner Dietz". Libération. Retrieved 20 July 2018.

External links

• La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French)
• cyclingnews