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Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...
'' (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 3
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 23 April to 12 May 1985. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of 3,474 km. The race was won by
Pedro Delgado Pedro Delgado Robledo (; born 15 April 1960), also known as Perico (), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989. Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5& ...
of the Orbea
cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...
.


Teams and riders


Pre-race favourites

The Spanish favourites for the general classification of the race were
Pedro Delgado Pedro Delgado Robledo (; born 15 April 1960), also known as Perico (), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989. Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5& ...
,
Faustino Rupérez Faustino Rupérez Rincón (born 29 July 1956) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist who raced between 1979 and 1985. Ruperez is most famous for capturing the overall title at the 1980 Vuelta a España. He finished 4th in the 19 ...
and
Pello Ruiz Cabestany Pello Ruiz Cabestany (born March 13, 1962 in San Sebastián) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. Major results ;1980 : 1st Pursuit, National Track Championships ;1982 : 1st : 1st Stages 8b & 11 Vuelta a Guatemala : 1st St ...
and the potential foreign favourites included Robert Millar – now known as Philippa York, Sean Kelly,
Éric Caritoux Éric Caritoux (born 16 August 1960 in Carpentras, Vaucluse) is a French former professional road racing cyclist who raced between 1983 and 1994. He had 22 victories in his career, the highlights of which were winning the Vuelta a España in 1984 ...
,
Peter Winnen Peter Johannes Gertrudis Winnen (born 5 September 1957) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in road racing and finished in 26th place. After the Games he turned professional in 1981. Among his 14 vict ...
and
Gianbattista Baronchelli Gianbattista Baronchelli (born 6 September 1953) is an Italian retired professional road racing cyclist (1974–1989). He obtained a total of 94 victories. Baronchelli was born in Ceresara, in the Province of Mantua. In 1973, as an amateur, h ...
.


Route


Race Overview

In 1985 the
Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...
was still held in its April – May slot as the first of the three grand tours of the season. A young
Miguel Induráin Miguel Induráin Larraya (; born 16 July 1964) is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. Induráin won five Tours de France from 1991 Tour de France, 1991 to 1995 Tour de France, 1995, the fourth, and last, to win five times, and the only five- ...
took the lead on stage 2.
Pedro Delgado Pedro Delgado Robledo (; born 15 April 1960), also known as Perico (), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989. Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5& ...
won stage 6 to the
Lagos de Covadonga The Lakes of Covadonga (el. 1134 m.) are composed of two glacial lakes located on the region of Asturias, Spain. These lakes, often also called Lakes of Enol or simply Los Lagos, are Lake Enol and Lake Ercina located in the Picos de ...
and took over the race leader's jersey. Delgado lost the lead the following day to Pello Ruiz Cabestany. Robert Millar – now known as Philippa York then took the lead after the tenth stage, a stage won by Kelly. Millar held the lead going into what has become one of the most infamous days in the history of the event, the penultimate day of the race, stage 18. Millar started the day 10 seconds ahead of Colombian Francisco 'Pacho' Rodríguez with Spain's
Pello Ruiz Cabestany Pello Ruiz Cabestany (born March 13, 1962 in San Sebastián) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. Major results ;1980 : 1st Pursuit, National Track Championships ;1982 : 1st : 1st Stages 8b & 11 Vuelta a Guatemala : 1st St ...
65 seconds further behind in third. With the following day's last stage of the race little more than ceremonial, Millar said to the press, "I just have to stick to Pacho Rodríguez's wheel and it's done." A mountainous stage with three major climbs, Rodriguez tried but was unable to make a successful attack on Millar on the first climb of the day, the Morcuera. At the foot of the second climb, the Cotos, Millar punctured meaning once the puncture had been fixed Millar had to chase to get back to Rodrigues and Cabestany. By the time the riders reached the third climb, Los Leones, Millar had not only reached the main GC favorites, but was also taking their congratulations indicating their submission that the race over as a contest. Millar however was unaware that Delgado, in the mountains around his Segovia hometown that he knew like the back of his hand, had launched an attack. None of the riders in Millar's group made him aware of the attack by Delgado – an elite specialist climber like Millar and in this case with the knowledge of the roads allowing him to descend aggressively. Delgado had support in his break from a second rider, Jose Recio. Delgado had started the day in sixth place and 6 minutes behind Millar. Working with Recio, Delgado was now nearly 7 minutes ahead of Millar on the road. Millar had none of his teammates in this group with the other contenders and was isolated. Recio won the stage and Delgado took overall lead of the race. With the race now referred to as "The stolen Vuelta', from the collusion among the Spanish speaking riders, Millar finished second overall. Peugeot directeur sportif,
Roland Berland Roland Berland (born 26 February 1945) is a French former racing cyclist. He won the French national road race title in 1972 and 1979. Major results ;1966 : 4th Overall ::1st Stage 2 ;1969 : 5th Critérium National de la Route ;1970 : 3rd C ...
, said, "It's rotten, the whole peloton was against us. It seems a Spaniard had to win at all costs." ''
L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...
''s Philip Bouvet stated, Millar was "the victim of a formidable Spanish coalition". Millar said afterwards, "I'll never return to Spain". In the television documentary on York, "The High Life", Millar criticised Berland for his handling of the situation on the road when Delgado attacked. Berland had been unable to negotiate support from other non Spanish speaking teams during the stage to give Millar the required support to chase down Delgado's lead. In 1985 and 1986, a national team of the communist Soviet Union participated in the Vuelta. At the time, it was unusual for Soviet riders to participate in professional races. 1985 also saw the participation of the first U.S. professional team sponsored by Rank-Xerox and managed by Robin Morton, the first woman to manage a men's professional cycling team.


General classification (final)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuelta A Espana, 1985 1985 in road cycling
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
1985 in Spanish sport 1985 Super Prestige Pernod International