Paris1972-Versailles2003

I am in back to you with my dear Spain , I have followed the race for many years and several posts which have decided to merge into one post for the older ones! The Vuelta de España bike race !! I really enjoyed it and many family memories of seeing it and eventually witnessed in person, Therefore, let me tell you a bit about the Vuelta de España 2017-2022 !!! Hope you enjoy it as I,

Many memorable moments over my life and very special at Cuenca, province of Cuenca, autonomous community of Castilla La Mancha, Kingdom of Spain. We were having our vacation in Las Majadas (see posts) and would come down always to Cuenca  (see posts), While passing by city center , we notice preparation for a bike race…it turned out to be the stage of the 2017 Vuelta de España We set out from Las Majadas up into the mountains by the site of Los Callejones. on the CUV 9113 road ; passing by it, this is a place of nature walkers with plenty of mountain terrain and rock formations from another era ! ,high mountain and wild animals such as deers abound and were seen! We came back to Cuenca and saw the preparations and ending of the 7th stage of the Vuelta de España The whole town was mobilize, really an spectacle to see , and it was my first Vuelta in Spain since 1993 !! And there with my boys and my dear late wife Martine, sadly her last.

The Vuelta de España 2019! bike race!! The Vuelta a Espana or tour of Spain  is a cycling race and one of the top 3 in the world.  The 74.ª edition of the Vuelta a España is celebrated between August 24 and September 15 2019 with a start in Salinas city of Torrevieja, and will end in Madrid. The course will have 21 stages over a distance of  3,272,2 km. It has a median distance of 156 km. It has two contre clock races, 5 medium mountain stages, 6 plains, 8 high mountain stages. My favorites stages from this race were Etapa 17 Aranda de Duero-Guadalajara,  Etapa 18 Colmenar Viejo-Becerril de la Sierra,  Etapa 19 Avila –Toledo,Etapa 21 Fuenlabrada- Madrid!! The Vuelta 2019 ,and the winner is a new name on the stage from Slovenia, Primoz Roglic from Team Jumbo-Visma team. What I pleasantly surprise is that  a champion in Alejandro Valverde at 39 years old was second only 2 minutes 33 seconds behind! from the Movistar Team.  Third place and closing the podium was another from Slovenia Tadej Pogacar. The last year 2018 winners were 1)Simon Yates (GBR),2)Enric Mas (ESP), and 3) Miguel Ángel López (COL).

The organization of La Vuelta bike race of Spain, in agreement with the UCI (International Cycling Union), agreed to postpone the 2020 75th edition of the race. The Vuelta was originally to be held between August 14 and September 6, departing from the Netherlands. However, the forced reorganization of the annual cycling calendar, following the world health crisis caused by COVID-19, has forced a change in plans. The Vuelta 2020 will be held in autumn, on dates yet to be determined, it will have 18 stages and will start in the Basque Country. It will start on October 20 in Irún and end on November 8 in Madrid, with 18 stages, a lot of mountains, a time trial with a trap … and pending the weather Some favorites stages were Stage 4. Garray-Ejea de los Caballeros (Friday, October 23), going to barren land and lots of memories; Stage 5. Huesca-Sabiñánigo (Saturday, October 24), great run!Stage 18. Madrid-Madrid (Sunday, November 8); to Madrid.

The 2021 76th edition of the tour of Spain or Vuelta a España Some of my favorite stages were Stage 5 (Wed 08/18) Tarancón-Albacete. 184.4 km. Flat and Stage 21 (Sun 05/09). Padrón-Santiago. 33.7 km. CRI Seven years later, La Vuelta returns to live in Santiago de Compostela its last stage in the form of an individual time trial.

The 2022 Vuelta will be held from August 19 to September 11, 2022 for the 77th edition ! The race will feature nine high finishes, of which at least five will be unprecedented in the history of the event. La Vuelta 22 will take off on the 19th of August with a team time trial through the streets of the Dutch city of Utrecht, celebrating its 900 years of its founding! too. Two other stages in the Netherlands, these in line, between Hertogenbosch and Utrecht, and the third with the start and finish line in Breda. My favorite stages were Stage 18, Thursday, September 8: Trujillo-Alto del Piornal, 191.7 km (Mountain) Stage 19, Friday September 9: Talavera de la Reina-Talavera de la Reina, 132.7 km (medium mountain),Stage 20, Saturday September 10: Moralzarzal-Puerto de Navacerrada, 175.5 km (mountain) Stage 21, Sunday September 11: Las Rozas-Madrid, 100.5 km (flat).

A bit of history I like tell us that the Vuelta was held for the first time in 1935. Since its inception, the race has been suspended four times: from 1937 to 1940 due to the Spanish Civil War, from 1943 to 1944 due to WWII, and the poor economic situation of Spain, in 1949 and from 1951 to 1954. At the beginning of 1935, Clemente López Dóriga, in collaboration with Juan Pujol, director of the Informaciones newspaper, organized the first cycling vuelta or tour of Spain with a 14-stage route and 3431 km in total. During the late 1950s there were the first triumphs in the general classification of Italian and French cyclists In 1973 the Belgian Eddy Merckx managed to win in the Vuelta and he did it in an overwhelming way, winning six stages and all the individual classifications with the exception of the mountain, in which he finished second. It was the only occasion in the history of the Vuelta in which there were three winners of the Tour de France on the podium of the Vuelta: Eddy Merckx, Luis Ocaña and Bernard Thévenet. In those 1990s La Vuelta could count on the potential of two of the best Spanish teams there have been: the Once and the Banesto with outstanding teams of good national and international runners.  The fiftieth edition of the Vuelta, held in 1995, coincided with the change of dates. The Vuelta of Spain takes place in September, near the end of the season. The first editions of the 2000s were marked by the dominance of Roberto Heras, who managed to achieve victory on three occasions. Roberto Heras appears again in the medal winners of the Vuelta a España as winner of the 2005 edition, being also the only cyclist who has won this race in four editions. Most wins by country are with first second third and total points:  Spain 32, 50, 39,121, France 9,3,4,16 and Belgium  7,4,8,19. Most victories by riders so far are Roberto Heras,4. Tony Rominger  3 Alberto Contador, 3  and have to put my idol Pedro Delgado 2.

The official La Vuelta of Spain: https://www.lavuelta.es/en

The Cycling News journal on the “historic” stage 7 of the Vuelta de España we saw in Cuenca: https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/vuelta-a-espana-2017/stage-7/results/

The Cuenca tourist office on the Los Callejones : https://visitacuenca.es/es/ruta/los-callejones

There you go folks, a dandy traditional wonderful bike race, and a wonderful family experience. We are missing dear folks to me ,but looking forward to be back to the area, eventually. Spain is everthing under the Sun and Cuenca has become a memorable point of many family happy times and we love it. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Vuelta de España 2017-2022 bike race as I.

And remember, happy travels,good health, and many cheers to all !!!