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.
In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours, and all three races are similar in format, being three-week races with daily stages. They have a special status in the UCI regulations: more points for the UCI World Tour are distributed in Grand Tours than in other races, and they are the only stage races allowed to last longer than 14 days.
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.
Néstor Oswaldo Mora Zárate was a racing cyclist from Colombia, who represented his native country in the individual road race at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Juan José Cobo Acebo is a retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He won the 2011 Vuelta a España as a Geox–TMC rider, his first and only major title but in July 2019 he was stripped of this title after being found guilty of doping by the UCI. He was considered a climber who also is able to time trial.
José Daniel Rincón Quintana is a Colombian former professional road cyclist. He is the younger brother of Oliverio Rincón.
Fabio Andrés Duarte Arevalo is a Colombian track and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Team Medellín–EPM. He is best known for winning the 2008 World Under-23 Road Race Championships, and has twice finished in second place during Giro d'Italia stages – in 2013, behind Vincenzo Nibali on stage 20 and 2014, behind Julián Arredondo on stage 18.
The 2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The bicycle race began in Benidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, in Madrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country. The 33-year absence from the region was due to fear of political protests.
Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio is a Colombian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost. Born in Bogotá, Chaves has competed as a professional since the start of the 2012 season, having signed for the Colombia–Coldeportes team as a neo-pro, after three seasons as an amateur with the Colombia es Pasión–Coldeportes team. Chaves is a two-time grand tour podium finisher, and a monument winner.
Ana Milena Fagua Raquira is a Colombian racing cyclist. She competed in the 2013 UCI women's road race in Florence.
Sérika Mitchell Gulumá Ortiz is a Colombian racing cyclist, who rides for Colombian amateur team Colnago CM Team. She competed in the 2013 UCI women's team time trial in Florence.
Oscar Soliz is a Bolivian road racing cyclist, who rides for Bolivian amateur team Potosí. Between 2017 and 2021, Soliz was suspended from the sport after testing positive for continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) at the 2017 Vuelta a Colombia.
Servetto–Makhymo–Beltrami TSA is a professional cycling team based in Italy, which competes in elite road bicycle racing events such as the UCI Women's World Tour.
José Patrocinio Jiménez Bautista is a Colombian former professional racing cyclist. He rode in four editions of the Tour de France and three editions of the Vuelta a España.
Leidy Natalia Muñoz Ruiz is a Colombian racing cyclist. She won the Colombian National Road Race Championships in 2015.
Ana Cristina Sanabria Sánchez is a Colombian professional racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's Continental Team Colombia Tierra de Atletas–GW–Shimano. She won the Colombian National Time Trial Championships four times, and the Vuelta a Colombia Femenina Oro y Paz in 2016 and 2017.
The 2017 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in Spain between 19 August and 10 September 2017. The race was the 72nd edition of the Vuelta a España and the final Grand Tour of the 2017 cycling season. The race started in Nîmes, France, and finished in Madrid. It was the first time the race has started in France and only the third time it has started outside Spain, after 1997 (Portugal) and 2009 (Netherlands).
Blanca Liliana Moreno Canchon is a Colombian professional racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Women's Continental Team Astana.
Norberto Cáceres (COL)
