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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams and riders
editRoute
edit| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 25 April | Zaragoza – Zaragoza | 130 km (81 mi) |  Jan Janssen (NED)
| ||
| 1b | 25 April | Zaragoza – Zaragoza | 4 km (2 mi) | 
|
Individual time trial | Jan Janssen (NED)
|
| 2 | 26 April | Zaragoza – Lleida | 195 km (121 mi) |  Michael Wright (GBR)
| ||
| 3a | 27 April | Lleida – Barcelona | 165 km (103 mi) |  Tommaso de Pra (ITA)
| ||
| 3b | 27 April | Barcelona – Barcelona | 38 km (24 mi) |  Rudi Altig (FRG)
| ||
| 4 | 28 April | Barcelona – Salou | 108 km (67 mi) | Michael Wright (GBR)
| ||
| 5 | 29 April | Salou – Vinaròs | 106 km (66 mi) | Rudi Altig (FRG)
| ||
| 6 | 30 April | Vinaròs – Valencia | 148 km (92 mi) | Pietro Guerra (ITA)
| ||
| 7 | 1 May | Valencia – Benidorm | 144 km (89 mi) | Wilfried Peffgen (FRG)
| ||
| 8 | 2 May | Benidorm – Almansa | 167 km (104 mi) |  Manuel Martín Piñera (ESP)
| ||
| 9 | 3 May | Almansa – Alcázar de San Juan | 230 km (143 mi) | José María Errandonea (ESP)
| ||
| 10 | 4 May | Alcázar de San Juan – Madrid | 173 km (107 mi) | Domingo Perurena (ESP)
| ||
| 11 | 5 May | Madrid – Palencia | 242 km (150 mi) | Ramón Sáez (ESP)
| ||
| 12 | 6 May | Villalón de Campos – Gijón | 236 km (147 mi) | José Pérez Francés (ESP)
| ||
| 13 | 7 May | Gijón – Santander | 203 km (126 mi) |  Victor Van Schil (BEL)
| ||
| 14 | 8 May | Santander – Vitoria | 244 km (152 mi) | Eduardo Castelló (ESP)
| ||
| 15 | 9 May | Vitoria – Pamplona | Annulled | |||
| 16 | 10 May | Pamplona – San Sebastián | 204 km (127 mi) | Luis Santamarina (ESP)
| ||
| 17 | 11 May | San Sebastián – Tolosa | 67 km (42 mi) |
|
Individual time trial | Felice Gimondi (ITA)
|
| 18 | 12 May | Tolosa – Bilbao | 206 km (128 mi) | Manuel Martín Piñera (ESP)
| ||
| Total | 3,014 km (1,873 mi) | |||||
Results
editFinal General Classification
edit| 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 |
References
edit- ^ "In praise of the Vuelta a España". Cyclist. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
- ^ Jones, Graham (2003-09-01). "La Vuelta: A Colorful & Caliente History". PezCycling News. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
- ^ "General Information 1968". La Vuelta.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
- ^ "XXIII Vuelta Ciclista a España – Clasificaciones Oficiales" (PDF). El Mundo Deportivo. 13 May 1968. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2020.
- ^ "1968 » 23rd Vuelta a España". Procyclingstats. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- ^ "23ème Vuelta a España 1968". Memoire du cyclisme (in French). Archived from the original on 25 October 2004.