1996 Vuelta a España

The 51st Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three Grand Tours, was held from 7 September to 29 September 1996. It consisted of 22 stages covering a total of 3,898 km (2,422 mi), and was won by Alex Zülle of the ONCE cycling team.^[1] This was the only time in cycling history that riders from Switzerland swept the Podium in a Grand Tour.^{[citation needed]}

Dates7–29 September

Stages22

Distance3,898 km (2,422 mi)

Winning time97h 31' 46"

Quick facts Race details, Dates ...

1996 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	7–29 September
Stages	22
Distance	3,898 km (2,422 mi)
Winning time	97h 31' 46"
Results
Winner  Alex Zülle (SUI) (ONCE)   Second  Laurent Dufaux (SUI) (Festina–Lotus)   Third  Tony Rominger (SUI) (Mapei–GB) Points  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) (ONCE) Mountains  Tony Rominger (SUI) (Mapei–GB) Sprints  Jürgen Werner (GER) (Team Telekom)   Team Team Polti
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Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain started his home tour for the first time since finishing second in 1991, having just recently been dislodged at the Tour by Bjarne Riis. He was initially reluctant to start, but convinced by his team to do so after a strong performance during the time trial at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. However, Indurain would eventually abandon the race, which would prove to be the last of his career, on stage 13 while lying in third place overall, having been dropped by the rest of the race favourites on the first-category climb of the Fito pass.^[2][3][4]