The 38th ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

), a long-distance bicycle stage 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 19 April to 8 May 1983. It consisted of 19 stages covering a total of , and was won by

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

of the Renault-Elf-Gitane

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 ...

. The foreign favourites for the race included

who had won the Vuelta once before in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

and World Champion

Giuseppe Saronni Giuseppe Saronni (born 22 September 1957), also known as Beppe Saronni, is an Italian former racing cyclist. He had remarkable success riding in the Giro d'Italia. In 1980 he won 7 stages and finished 7th overall, in 1981 he won 3 stages and fi ...

. The Spanish favourites for the race included the de facto defending champion Marino Lejarreta,

Julián Gorospe Julián Gorospe Artabe (born 22 March 1960 in Mañaria) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1982 and 1994, entirely for the team. Gorospe also worked as the directeur sportif of between 1998 ...

and

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

. Hinault took the leadership of the race after the fifth stage only to lose it the following day to Lejarreta. Lejarreta then won the stage 8 mountain time trial and increased his lead over Hinault. On the stage from Zaragoza to Soria that was won by Saronni, Lejarreta had a fall and lost the jersey to Gorospe. Fernández took the leadership the following day. Lejarreta came back and won the stage 13 to Lagos de Covadonga. However Fernández kept the leader’s jersey. On the following stage Álvaro Pino took the jersey and wore it for two days. Hinault won the individual time trial but did not win by enough time to take the jersey which passed again to Gorospe. Two days later Hinault’s pace on the climb to Puerto de Serranillos was too hot for his opponents and he won the stage in Ávila and took back the leader’s jersey to win his second Vuelta and his eighth grand tour with Lejarreta second and Fernández in third. The great battle waged between Hinault and the Spanish riders has led to the 1983 race being described as its most spectacular edition. In addition to this the start list for the 1983 Renault team at the Vuelta included Hinault,

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...

and

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 th ...

, the only time they rode on the same team in a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tu ...

. This victory proved costly for Hinault however, as due to a recurrent tendinitis issue that had developed in his knee, which he greatly aggravated on the climb to Puerto de Serranillos, Hinault was unable to ride in that year's Tour, where Fignon took over Team Renault.

Teams and riders

Route

Results

Final General Classification

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuelta a Espana, 1983 1983 in road cycling

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

1983 in Spanish sport April 1983 sports events in Europe May 1983 sports events in Europe 1983 Super Prestige Pernod