The Vuelta a España is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the race was first organised in 1935. The race was prevented from being run by the Spanish Civil War and World War II in the early years of its existence; however, the race has been held annually since 1955. As the Vuelta gained prestige and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend all around the globe. Since 1979, the event has been staged and managed by Unipublic, until in 2014, when the Amaury Sport Organisation acquired control. Since then, they have been working together. The peloton expanded from a primarily Spanish participation to include riders from all over the world. The Vuelta is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the wild card teams that the organizers can invite.
Astana Qazaqstan Team is a professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by the Samruk-Kazyna, a coalition of state-owned companies from Kazakhstan and named after its capital city Astana. Astana attained UCI ProTeam status in its inaugural year, 2007. Following a major doping scandal involving Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov, team management was terminated and new management brought in for the 2008 season. The team was then managed by Johan Bruyneel, former team manager of U.S. Postal/Discovery Channel team. Under Bruyneel the ethical nature of the team did not improve, although Astana in this period was very successful.
Geox-TMC was a Spanish-based road bicycle racing team, registered for 2011 as a UCI Professional Continental team. Established as Saunier Duval–Prodir in 2004, the team has had success in one-day races such as Clásica de San Sebastián.
The Volta a Catalunya is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain.
Samuel "Samu" Sánchez González is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally in the sport between 2000 and 2017 for the Euskaltel–Euskadi and BMC Racing Team squads. He was the gold medal winner in the road race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the following years Sánchez proved himself in hilly classics and stage races as one of the most important riders in the peloton. He was also known as one of the best descenders in the peloton. He finished in the top 6 of the Tour de France three times and in the top 10 of the Vuelta a España 6 times. Other notable achievements include winning the Vuelta a Burgos in 2010, the 2012 Tour of the Basque Country and five stages of the Vuelta a España.
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice, the Giro d'Italia twice, and the Vuelta a España three times. He is one of only seven riders to have won all three Grand Tours of cycling, and one of only two riders to have won all three more than once. He has also won the Vélo d'Or a record 4 times.
The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, due to Spain's financial turmoil, the race was scaled back to three stages in 2011 and two stages in 2012. From 2013 to 2018 the Vuelta a Murcia was organised as a single-day race and shifted to mid-February on the international calendar. In 2019 the race was expanded to two stages. It is part of the UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event. However, due to the postponement of the 2021 edition to May, the race was reverted to its one-day nature, with the expectation that the race will continue as a two-day event in future editions.
Constantino Zaballa Gutiérrez is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, best known for winning Clásica de San Sebastián in 2005. Towards the end of his career, Zaballa ventured into cyclocross with the Club Ciclistica Udías.
Rubén Plaza Molina is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the Comunidad Valenciana–Kelme, Benfica, Liberty Seguros, Movistar Team, Lampre–Merida, Orica–Scott and Israel Cycling Academy teams. During his career, he recorded a top 5 overall placing in the 2005 Vuelta a España, and won three Grand Tour stages.
Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2007 and 2019 for the Nicolas Mateos, Fuji–Servetto, Euskaltel–Euskadi, Movistar Team, Team Sky and Euskadi–Murias teams.
Ezequiel Mosquera Míguez is a Spanish former road bicycle racer. He has finished in the top 5 of the Vuelta a España in all appearances, and finished second in 2010, after putting in a strong time trial and winning the penultimate stage to Bola del Mundo. After testing positive for hydroxyethyl starch in the race, he was suspended by the UCI and his results from the 2010 Vuelta were annulled.
The 2010 Vuelta a España was held from 28 August to 19 September and was won by Vincenzo Nibali. The race began in Seville and ended, as is tradition, in Madrid.
Team Manzana Postobón was a UCI Professional Continental cycling team based in Colombia. The team was founded in 2006, becoming a Continental team in 2007. In 2015, the team competed as a club, before returning to Continental status the following year. From 2017 until its disbanding in 2019 the team held Professional Continental status.
Javier Moreno Bazán is a Spanish professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Sabgal–Anicolor. Prior to this, Moreno has also competed for the Andalucía–Cajasur, Caja Rural, Movistar Team, Bahrain–Merida and Delko–Marseille Provence teams.
Burgos BH is a UCI ProTeam cycling team based in Burgos, Spain. The team was founded in 2006 under the name of "Viña Magna-Cropu".
Jesús Herrada López is a Spanish professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Cofidis. His brother José Herrada is also a professional cyclist, and also competes for Cofidis.
Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro is an Ecuadorian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost. Carapaz won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, becoming the first Ecuadorian rider to win the race. In July 2021, he won the gold medal in the road race at the 2020 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Ecuadorian cyclist to win a medal and only the second Ecuadorian in any sport to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. In doing so, he became the first cyclist to achieve an Olympic road race gold medal and a podium finish in each of the three Grand Tours.
The 2010 Vuelta a Asturias was the 54th edition of the Vuelta a Asturias road cycling stage race, which was held from 28 April to 2 May 2010. The race started and finished in Oviedo. The race was initially won by Constantino Zaballa of the CC Loulé–Louletano–Aquashow team. Zaballa's result was annulled by the Union Cycliste Internationale in 2012, after Zaballa had tested positive for using ephedrine.
Segundo Barruetabeña (ESP)
Federico Bahamontes (ESP)
Faustino Rupérez (ESP)
Richard Carapaz (ECU)
Nairo Quintana (COL)
Isaac del Toro (MEX)
