The 2012 Vuelta a Andalucía was the 58th edition of the

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI P ...

, a regional Spanish

road bicycle race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

. It was rated as a 2.1 event and was the 13th race of the

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

. The race was held over 19–23 February. The race was won by Spain's

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Valverde's biggest wins have been the Vuelta a España in 2009, Critérium du Dauphiné in 2008 and 2009 ...

, of the , after taking the overall lead with victory on the second stage, and held the lead to the end of the race. Valverde's winning margin over runner-up

Rein Taaramäe Rein Taaramäe (born April 24, 1987) is an Estonian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Cofidis (2008–14) Taaramäe turned professional in 2008 for after riding for the team as a stagiaire in late 2007 and winnin ...

() was three seconds, and 's

Jérôme Coppel Jérôme Coppel (born 6 August 1986) is a French former road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2016 for the , , and teams. Career Born in Annemasse, Haute-Savoie, Coppel and compatriot Romain Sicard were the focus of a fo ...

completed the podium, five seconds behind Taaramäe and eight seconds down on Valverde. In the race's other classifications, Valverde won the points and combination classifications, rider

Luis Ángel Maté Luis Ángel Maté Mardones (born 23 March 1984) is a Spanish professional road and gravel cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam . Born in Marbella, Maté has competed as a professional since 2008, competing for and prior to moving to for the 201 ...

won both the mountains and sprints classifications, and finished at the head of the teams classification.

Teams

Sixteen teams participated in the 2012 Vuelta a Andalucía, consisting of seven

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, e ...

teams, eight

UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

teams, and one

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

Team. ;

Teams * * * * * * * ;

Teams * * * * * * * * ;

Teams *

Team NSP–Ghost Team NSP–Ghost was a German UCI Continental 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 ...

Stages

Prologue

;19 February 2012 — San Fernando ,

Prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

(ITT)

Stage 1

;20 February 2012 —

Zahara de los Atunes Zahara de los Atunes is a village on the Costa de la Luz of Spain in the province of Cádiz and the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is noted for its excellent beaches, an outdoor cinema, and la Iglesia Del Carmen church where, curiously, tuna ( ...

Benalmádena Benalmádena () is a town in Andalusia in southern Spain, 12 km west of Málaga, on the Costa del Sol between Torremolinos and Fuengirola. Benalmádena is rich in attractive beaches and interesting places like the Colomares Castle, the 33-me ...

Stage 2

;21 February 2012 — Málaga to

Lucena Lucena, officially the City of Lucena ( fil, Lungsod ng Lucena), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Calabarzon region of the Philippines. It is the capital city of the province of Quezon where it is geographically situated but, in t ...

Stage 3

;22 February 2012 —

Montemayor Montemayor is a city located in the province of Córdoba, Spain. According to the 2006 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is ...

Las Gabias Las Gabias (commonly referred to as Gabia) is a Spanish city and municipality located in the central southern part of the Vega of Granada, in the province of Granada, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, appro ...

Stage 4

;23 February 2012 — Jaén to

La Guardia de Jaén La Guardia de Jaén or Guardia de Jaén, La (official name), and the old ''Mentesa Bastia'' at Iberic and Roman era, is a small city located in the province of Jaén (Spain) at western end of Sierra Mágina, on the ''Cerro de San Marcos'', near ...

Classification leadership

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andalucia

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2012 in Spanish road cycling 2012 UCI Europe Tour