The 6th ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

race and one of the three

grand tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

, was held from 7 to 30 May 1946. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of , and was won by

Dalmacio Langarica Dalmacio Langarica Lizasoain (5 December 1919 – 24 January 1985) was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist during the 1940s and 1950s and a directeur sportif in the 1970s. Langarica rode to victory over 23 stages and across to win t ...

. Emilio Rodríguez won the mountains classification. After the 22nd stage,

Jan Lambrichs Jan Lambrichs (21 June 1915 – 28 January 1990) was a Dutch racing cyclist. He finished eighth in the 1939 Tour de France The 1939 Tour de France was the 33rd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 10 to 30 July. The total dista ...

was in second place. The Dutch team then received a letter, saying that Lambrichs should give up his second place, otherwise he would reach the finish in Madrid in an ambulance. The team manager decided not to tell Lambrichs about this threat, but gave him extra security. In the final stage, Berrendero escaped and left everybody behind, including Lambrichs, and took over the second place. The next day, the Dutch team received a box of Cuban cigars from the unknown person who had sent the threat.

Teams and riders

Route

Results

Final General Classification

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuelta A Espana, 1946

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

1946 in Spanish sport 1946 in road cycling