1992 Vuelta a España

1992 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	27 April – 17 May
Stages	20 + Prologue, including one split stage
Distance	3,395 km (2,110 mi)
Winning time	96h 14' 50"
Results
Winner Tony Rominger (SUI) (CLAS–Cajastur)   Second Jesús Montoya (ESP) (Amaya Seguros)   Third Pedro Delgado (ESP) (Banesto) Points Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB) (Carrera Jeans–Vagabond) Mountains Carlos Hernández Bailo (ESP) (Lotus–Festina) Youth Artūras Kasputis (LIT) (Postobón–Manzana–Ryalcao) Combination Tony Rominger (SUI) (CLAS–Cajastur) Sprints Antonio Esparza (ESP) (Wigarma)   Team Amaya Seguros

The 47th Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 27 April to 17 May 1992. It consisted of 20 stages covering a total of 3,395 km (2,110 mi), and was won by Tony Rominger of the Clas-Cajastur cycling team.

Race preview and favorites

Among the starters in Jerez de la Frontera were such big names as Erik Breukink, Robert Millar, Steven Rooks and Stephen Roche. However, none of them seemed to arrive in good form, and none of them lived up to their reputation. Among the locals, the defending champion Melchor Mauri, Pedro Delgado and Laudelino Cubino were the favorites.

Route

List of stages

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	27 April	Jerez de la Frontera – Jerez de la Frontera	9.2 km (6 mi)		Individual time trial	Jelle Nijdam (NED)
2a	28 April	San Fernando – Jerez de la Frontera	135.5 km (84 mi)			Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB)
2b	28 April	Arcos de la Frontera – Jerez de la Frontera	32.6 km (20 mi)		Team time trial	Gatorade–Chateau d'Ax
3	29 April	Jerez de la Frontera – Córdoba	205 km (127 mi)			Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED)
4	30 April	Linares – Albacete	229 km (142 mi)			Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB)
5	1 May	Albacete – Gandia	213.5 km (133 mi)			Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED)
6	2 May	Gandia – Benicàssim	202.8 km (126 mi)			Edwig Van Hooydonck (BEL)
7	3 May	Alquerías del Niño Perdido – Oropesa	49.5 km (31 mi)		Individual time trial	Erik Breukink (NED)
8	4 May	Lleida – Pla de Beret	240.5 km (149 mi)			Jon Unzaga (ESP)
9	5 May	Vielha – Luz Ardiden (France)	144 km (89 mi)			Laudelino Cubino (ESP)
10	6 May	Luz-Saint-Sauveur (France) – Sabiñánigo	196 km (122 mi)			Julio César Cadena (COL)
11	7 May	Sabiñánigo – Pamplona	162.9 km (101 mi)			Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB)
12	8 May	Pamplona – Burgos	200.1 km (124 mi)			Johan Bruyneel (BEL)
13	9 May	Burgos – Santander	178.3 km (111 mi)			Roberto Torres (ESP)
14	10 May	Santander – Lakes of Covadonga	213.4 km (133 mi)			Pedro Delgado (ESP)
15	11 May	Cangas de Onís – Alto del Naranco	163 km (101 mi)			Francisco Javier Mauleón (ESP)
16	12 May	Oviedo – León	162 km (101 mi)			Tom Cordes (NED)
17	13 May	León – Salamanca	200.6 km (125 mi)			Eric Vanderaerden (BEL)
18	14 May	Salamanca – Ávila	218.9 km (136 mi)			Enrico Zaina (ITA)
19	15 May	Fuenlabrada – Fuenlabrada	37.9 km (24 mi)		Individual time trial	Tony Rominger (SUI)
20	16 May	Collado Villalba – Palazuelos de Eresma (Destilerías DYC)	188.3 km (117 mi)			Óscar Vargas Tony Rominger (SUI)
21	17 May	Palazuelos de Eresma (Destilerías DYC) – Madrid	175 km (109 mi)			Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB)
	Total		3,395 km (2,110 mi)

Race overview

The first decisive stage was the first individual time trial, won by Dutch rider Erik Breukink. The big surprise that day was pure climber Jesús Montoya who managed second on the stage and took the leader's jersey. Rominger, suffering from a concussion and a knee injury due to an earlier crash, lost almost three minutes.

Two days later, during the queen stage in the Pyrenees, with 5 major mountain passes ending with the ascensions of the Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden, the names of the contenders became clear, as Mauri lost over forty minutes and Rominger dropped the other contenders on the final climb, to finish second to the stage winner Lale Cubino who had spent the day in a breakaway. Cubino, who until then seemed like a candidate for the overall win, lost time on the ascension of Lagos de Covadonga, where Delgado took the stage and rose to second overall. Montoya limited his losses to Delgado, and Rominger finished right with him after being initially dropped.

As Montoya and Delgado closely marked each other's attacks, they were unable to increase their advantage on Rominger who took the lead with a commanding performance in the final flat time trial. After this, Montoya and Delgado joined forces over the final mountain stage, but were unable to unseat Rominger who once again won the stage.

Thus, Rominger became the first Swiss rider to win the Vuelta. He was joined on the final podium by Jesús Montoya and Pedro Delgado.

Doping

Óscar Vargas initially won stage 20, but tested positive for caffeine in the subsequent doping test. He was stripped of his result and given a three-month suspension.

Results

Final General Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Tony Rominger	CLAS-Cajastur	96h 14' 50"
2	Jesús Montoya	Amaya Seguros	1' 04"
3	Pedro Delgado	Banesto	1' 42"
4	Marco Giovannetti	Gatorade – Chateau D'ax	5' 19"
5	Federico Echave	CLAS-Cajastur	5' 34"
6	Laudelino Cubino	Amaya Seguros	6' 24"
7	Fabio Parra	Amaya Seguros	7' 24"
8	Raúl Alcalá	PDM-Concorde	12' 50"
9	Francisco Javier Mauleón	CLAS-Cajastur	15' 44"
10	Steven Rooks	Buckler	18' 57"
11	Gert-Jan Theunisse	TVM-Sanyo	19' 39"
12	Pello Ruiz Cabestany	Gatorada-Chateaux d'Ax	19' 41"
13	Luis Camargo	Ryalco–Postobón
14	Stephen Roche	Carrera Jeans–Vagabond
15	Johan Bruyneel	ONCE
16	Hernán Buenahora	Kelme-Don Café
17	William Palacio	Ryalco-Postobón
18	Piotr Ugrumov	Seur
19	Edgar Corredor	Sicasal-Arcal
20	Robert Millar	TVM-Sanyo
21	Fabio Rodríguez	Clas-Cajastur
22	Carlos Hernández Bailo	Lotus-Festina
23	Jon Unzaga Bombín	Clas-Cajastur
24	Arsenio González	Clas-Cajastur
25	Luis Perez Garcia	Lotus-Festina

External links

• La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French)