The 2016 Vuelta a España was a three-week
Grand Tour cycling
stage race
A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...
that took place in Spain between 20 August and 11 September 2016. The race was the 71st edition of the
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, 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'Ital ...
and the final Grand Tour of the 2016 cycling season.
The race included 21 stages, beginning with a
team time trial
A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events).
The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...
that started in
Ourense
Ourense (; ) is a city and the capital of the province of province of Ourense, Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path o ...
. The subsequent stages included 10 summit finishes. The race ended in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
.
The overall winner was
Nairo Quintana of team
Movistar
Movistar () is a major telecommunications provider owned by Telefónica, operating in Spain and Hispanic American countries. It is the largest provider of landline, broadband, Mobile telephony, mobile services, and pay television (Movistar Plus+ ...
, with
Chris Froome (
Team Sky
Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the National Cyclin ...
) second and
Esteban Chaves (
Orica–BikeExchange) third.
Teams
The eighteen
UCI WorldTeams were automatically invited and obliged to attend the race. The organiser of the Vuelta,
Unipublic, was also able to invite four
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 (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
teams – the second tier of professional cycling teams – as
wildcards.
The teams entering the race were:
Route
The route of the 2016 Vuelta was announced on 9 January 2016. In contrast to the two previous editions of the Vuelta, which had begun in
Andalusia
Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
, this edition spent its first week in
Galicia in the north-west of Spain. The first stage was a
team time trial
A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events).
The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...
to
Castrelo de Miño. The first significant climb of the race was at the end of the third stage, which was the first of ten summit finishes in the race. The route travelled through
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
before coming to the
Basque Country; the fourteenth stage, described by ''
Cyclingnews.com'' as the hardest of the race, took place mainly just across the border in France. The route continued down the eastern coast of Spain over the next few days, with several mountainous stages, with the race's only
individual time trial
An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...
coming on stage 19. One more mountainous stage followed, finishing on the
Alto de Aitana, before the riders travelled to
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
for the closing stage on a circuit in the city centre.
Classification leadership
The race included four principal classifications. The first of these was the general classification, which was calculated by adding up each rider's times on each stage and applying the relevant time bonuses. These were 10 seconds for the stage winner, 6 seconds for the rider in second, and 4 seconds for the rider in third, and 3, 2 and 1 seconds for the first three riders at each intermediate sprint; no bonuses were awarded on the time trial stages. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Vuelta. The rider leading the classification wore a red jersey.
The second classification was the points classification. Riders were awarded points for finishing in the top fifteen places on each stage and in the top three at each intermediate sprint. The first rider at each stage finish was awarded 25 points, the second 20 points, the third 16 points, the fourth 14 points, the fifth 12 points, the sixth 10 points, down to 1 point for the rider in fifteenth. At the intermediate sprints, the first three riders won 4, 2 and 1 points respectively. The rider with the most points won the classification and wore a green jersey.
The third classification was the
mountains classification. Most stages of the race included one or more categorised climbs. Stages were categorised as third-, second-, first- and special-category, with the more difficult climbs rated higher. The most difficult climb of the race was given its own category as the
Cima Alberto Fernández. Points were awarded for the first riders across the summit of each climb; the rider with the most accumulated points won the classification and wore a white jersey with blue polka dots.
The fourth individual classification was the
combination classification. This was calculated by adding up each rider's position on the other three individual classifications. The rider with the lowest cumulative score was the winner of the classification and wore a white jersey.
The final classification was a
team classification The team classification is one of the different rankings for which competitors can compete in a multiple stage cycling race. It differs from the other usual rankings (general classification, points, king of the mountain and best young rider competi ...
. This was calculated by adding together the times of each team's best three riders on each stage. The team with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the classification. There was also a combativeness prize awarded on each stage; three riders were chosen on each stage by a race jury to recognise the rider "who displayed the most courageous effort". There was then a public vote to decide which rider would be awarded the prize; the rider wore a red ''dossard'' (race number) the following day. An identical procedure took place on the final stage to decide the most combative rider of the whole Vuelta.
* In stage three,
Bryan Nauleau, who was second in the combination classification, wore the white jersey, because first-placed
Laurent Pichon
Laurent Pichon (born 19 July 1986) is a French former racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2010 to 2023. He was named in the start list for the 2015 Vuelta a España. In June 2017, he was named in the startlist for the Tour de Fra ...
wore the polka-dot jersey as leader of the mountains classification.
* In stage four,
Simon Pellaud
Simon Pellaud (born 6 November 1992) is a Swiss cyclist who currently rides for UCI Continental team . He was named in the start-list for the 2015 Vuelta a España. In October 2020, he was named in the start-list for the 2020 Giro d'Italia.
Biogr ...
, who was second in the mountains classification, wore the polka-dot jersey, because first-placed
Alexandre Geniez wore the green jersey as leader of the points classification.
Alejandro Valverde
Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish cyclist, who competed as a professional in road bicycle racing from 2002 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2022, and now competes in gravel cycling for the Movistar Team Gravel Squad.
During ...
, who was second in the combination classification, wore the white jersey, because first-placed
Rubén Fernández wore the red jersey as the leader of the overall classification.
* In stage five,
Thomas De Gendt, who was second in the mountains classification, wore the polka-dot jersey, because first-placed Alexandre Geniez wore the green jersey as leader of the points classification.
Lilian Calmejane, who was second in the combination classification, wore the white jersey, because first-placed
Darwin Atapuma wore the red jersey as the leader of the overall classification.
* In stages 6–8, Alejandro Valverde, who was second in the combination classification, wore the white jersey, because first-placed Darwin Atapuma wore the red jersey as the leader of the overall classification.
* In stage ten, Alejandro Valverde, who was second in the combination classification, wore the white jersey, because first-placed
David de la Cruz wore the red jersey as the leader of the overall classification.
* In stages 11–21,
Chris Froome, who was second in the combination classification, wore the white jersey, because first-placed
Nairo Quintana wore the red jersey as the leader of the overall classification.
* In stages twelve and thirteen,
Omar Fraile, who was second in the mountains classification, wore the polka-dot jersey, because first-placed Nairo Quintana wore the red jersey as the leader of the overall classification.
Final standings
General classification
Points classification
Mountains classification
Combination classification
Team classification
Controversy
In stage 15, more than 90 riders were 10 km/h slower than the winner and finished far outside of the time cut. They were, nevertheless, allowed to stay in the race. Of the six remaining stages, five were won by riders from that grupetto (
Drucker,
Frank, 2x
Cort Nielsen,
Latour
Latour may refer to:
People
* LaTour, American musician
Surname
* House of Baillet
** Alfred de Baillet Latour (1901–1980), Belgian count
** Henri de Baillet-Latour (1876–1942), Belgian aristocrat and the third president of the Internationa ...
), Froome being the only exception after winning the time trial (stage 19).
References
Sources
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuelta a Espana, 2016
2016 in Spanish road cycling
2016 UCI World Tour
August 2016 sports events in Spain
September 2016 sports events in Spain
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...