The 42nd Edition ''

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 ...

'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle

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 15 May 1987. It consisted of 22 stages covering a total of 3,921 km, and was won by Luis Herrera of the

Café de Colombia Café de Colombia () was a Colombian based professional road bicycle racing Cycling team active from 1983 to 1990. The team was sponsored by the Colombian coffee growers Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia. History The team came into ...

cycling team. It was the first win of a Grand Tour by a Colombian and also the first of a South American. With the 1986 Vuelta Champion,

Álvaro Pino Álvaro Pino Couñago (born 17 August 1956) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Galicia who raced between 1981 through 1991 and is most famous for winning the overall title at the 1986 Vuelta a España over favorites Robert Millar ...

was absent due to health problems, the principal favourites for the overall classification were

Laurent Fignon Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He is former FICP World No. 1 in 1989. He nearly captured ...

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&nb ...

and Sean Kelly. Jean Luc Vandenbroucke won the prologue and wore the first leader's jersey. Kelly who was in form after winning Paris–Nice for the sixth time won the first stage and took the jersey. The sixth stage saw the beginning of the fight for the overall classification. Luis Herrera in the company of Ángel Arroyo and

Vicente Belda Vicente Belda Vicedo (born 12 September 1954) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, born in Alfafara. He is now the manager of Spanish UCI Professional Continental outfit Fuerteventura–Canarias. Until 2006 he was the directeur s ...

attacked several times on the final ascent of the stage. However Kelly was still able to ride into the leader's jersey again. On the following stage to Cerler which was won by the Spaniard Laudelino Cubino, Herrera put time into Kelly and Dietzen finished ahead of Kelly and took the leader's jersey. Herrera took the jersey after the 11th stage that finished on the Lagos de Covadonga. However Kelly retook the leader's jersey in the stage 18 time trial and with four stages to go it looked as if he was going to win his first grand tour. However Kelly was forced to withdraw from the race the following day due to a saddle boil. Fignon won the following stage and moved up to third place overall ahead of Delgado. Herrera took back the jersey which he kept to the end to win the race. It was the first win of a Grand Tour by a Colombian and also the first of a South American.

Teams and riders

Route

Classification leadership

Final classification standings

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Young rider classification

Team classification

Sprint classification

Flying goal classification

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuelta a Espana, 1987 1987 in road cycling

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

1987 in Spanish sport 1987 Super Prestige Pernod International