1968 Vuelta a España
Cycling race
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The 23rd edition of Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 25 April to 12 May 1968. It consisted of 18 stages covering a total of 3,014 km (1,873 mi). Basque nationalist ETA terrorists detonated a bomb along the course on stage 15, causing that day's racing to be annulled.[1][2] The race was won by Felice Gimondi of the Salvarani cycling team. With this win in the 1968 Vuelta a España, the 1967 Giro d'Italia and the 1965 Tour de France, Gimondi became the second cyclist after Jacques Anquetil to win all three grand tours in his career.[3] Defending champion Jan Janssen won the points competition and 1966 champion Francisco Gabica won the mountains classification.[4]
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 25 April – 12 May | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,014 km (1,873 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 78h 29' 00" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Teams and riders
Route
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 25 April | Zaragoza to Zaragoza | 130 km (81 mi) |  Jan Janssen (NED) | ||
| 1b | Zaragoza to Zaragoza | 4 km (2 mi) |  |
Individual time trial | Jan Janssen (NED) | |
| 2 | 26 April | Zaragoza to Lleida | 195 km (121 mi) |  Michael Wright (GBR) | ||
| 3a | 27 April | Lleida to Barcelona | 165 km (103 mi) |  Tommaso de Pra (ITA) | ||
| 3b | Barcelona to Barcelona | 38 km (24 mi) |  Rudi Altig (FRG) | |||
| 4 | 28 April | Barcelona to Salou | 108 km (67 mi) | Michael Wright (GBR) | ||
| 5 | 29 April | Salou to Vinaròs | 106 km (66 mi) | Rudi Altig (FRG) | ||
| 6 | 30 April | Vinaròs to Valencia | 148 km (92 mi) | Pietro Guerra (ITA) | ||
| 7 | 1 May | Valencia to Benidorm | 144 km (89 mi) | Wilfried Peffgen (FRG) | ||
| 8 | 2 May | Benidorm to Almansa | 167 km (104 mi) |  Manuel Martín Piñera (ESP) | ||
| 9 | 3 May | Almansa to Alcázar de San Juan | 230 km (143 mi) | José María Errandonea (ESP) | ||
| 10 | 4 May | Alcázar de San Juan to Madrid | 173 km (107 mi) | Domingo Perurena (ESP) | ||
| 11 | 5 May | Madrid to Palencia | 242 km (150 mi) | Ramón Sáez (ESP) | ||
| 12 | 6 May | Villalón de Campos to Gijón | 236 km (147 mi) | José Pérez Francés (ESP) | ||
| 13 | 7 May | Gijón to Santander | 203 km (126 mi) |  Victor Van Schil (BEL) | ||
| 14 | 8 May | Santander to Vitoria | 244 km (152 mi) | Eduardo Castelló (ESP) | ||
| 15 | 9 May | Vitoria to Pamplona | Annulled | |||
| 16 | 10 May | Pamplona to San Sebastián | 204 km (127 mi) | Luis Santamarina (ESP) | ||
| 17 | 11 May | San Sebastián to Tolosa | 67 km (42 mi) | |
Individual time trial | Felice Gimondi (ITA) |
| 18 | 12 May | Tolosa to Bilbao | 206 km (128 mi) | Manuel Martín Piñera (ESP) | ||
| Total | 3,014 km (1,873 mi) | |||||
Results
Final General Classification
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felice Gimondi | Salvarani | 78h 29' 00" |
| 2 | José Pérez Francés | Kas–Kaskol | + 2' 15" |
| 3 | Eusebio Vélez | Fagor | + 5' 08" |
| 4 | José María Errandonea | Fagor | + 5' 19" |
| 5 | Vittorio Adorni | Faema | + 5' 26" |
| 6 | Jan Janssen | Pelforth | + 5' 43" |
| 7 | Antonio Gómez del Moral | Kas–Kaskol | + 5' 55" |
| 8 | Carlos Echeverría | Kas–Kaskol | + 6' 00" |
| 9 |  Lucien Aimar | Bic | + 6' 40" |
| 10 | Jos Spruyt | Faema | + 7' 50" |
| 11 | Luis Otaño Arcelus | Fagor | |
| 12 | Jean-Pierre Ducasse | Pelforth | |
| 13 | Francisco Gabica | Fagor | |
| 14 | Michael Wright | Bic | |
| 15 | Ventura Díaz Arrey | Ferrys | |
| 16 | José Manuel Lopez | Fagor | |
| 17 | José Antonio Momeñe | Fagor | |
| 18 | Rudi Altig | Salvarani | |
| 19 | Andrés Gandarias | Kas–Kaskol | |
| 20 | Cees Haast | Bic | |
| 21 | Fernando Manzaneque | Karpy | |
| 22 | Wilfried Peffgen | Salvarani | |
| 23 | Victor Van Schil | Faema | |
| 24 | Domingo Perurena | Fagor | |
| 25 | Sebastián Elorza Uria | Kas–Kaskol |