| 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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← 1972 1974 → | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 28th EditionVuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distancebicyclestage race and one of the 3grand 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 byEddy Merckx of theMoltenicycling team. As Merckx had already won several editions of theTour de France and theGiro d'Italia with his win in the Vuelta, he became the third cyclist afterJacques Anquetil andFelice Gimondi to win all threegrand tours in his career. Merckx went on to win the1973 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 theTour 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 andGerben Karstens won four.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
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 inSan Sebastián.[10]
The teams entering the race were:[9]
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Four different jerseys were worn during the 1973 Vuelta a España. The leader of thegeneral 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 thepoints 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 themountains 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. Thecombination 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.
| Legend | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Denotes the winner of theGeneral classification |  | Denotes the winner of theMountains classification |
 | Denotes the winner of thePoints classification |  | Denotes the winner of theCombination classification |
| 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" |
| Rider | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eddy Merckx (BEL) | Molteni | 215.5 |
| 2 | Roger Swerts (BEL) | Molteni | 162.5 |
| 3 | Pieter Nassen (BEL) | Rokado | 154.5 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Citations
| By year men |
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| By year women | |||||||||||||
| Classifications ("jerseys") |
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| Lists and topics | |||||||||||||
| Related articles | |||||||||||||
