|
Stages:
|
24 |
Kms:
|
3.893 |
|
Riders:
|
47 |
|
|
Kms/hour:
|
29,392 |
|
Retired:
|
20 |
Manuel Costa was about to achieve in this edition
the triumph which he could not get the previous year either, but he saw, once
again, how the victory was achieved by a rival when the race was about to
finish. This time it was the Belgian rider Edouard Van Dyck the one who stood
in Costa´s way, what means that the Yellow Jersey travelled for a third time
to a foreign country. Before this time, only the Belgian rider Gustave Deloor
had been able to win Vuelta a España; it was in 1935 and 1936, when the Spanish
race was starting out and the conditions in which it was disputed were completely
contrary to the present ones.
The tireless Delio Rodriguez, who was the winner in seven stages, ruled completely
the first part of the race. He achieved the leadership the first day and was
able to keep it until the 12th, when Costa launched his attack and gained
an advantage of eight minutes over Rodriguez, who had to add ten more seconds
as a penalty for having been helped by a vehicle in one moment of the stage.
In this way, the brilliant sprinter lost his option to the final victory,
which was now at the mercy of Costa.
However, Van Dyck´s remarkable skill in flat stages and time trials allowed
the Belgian rider to obtain the victory which the Spanish rider was about
to get. Despite having been unable to get the triumph, more than 50.000 people
gave Costa an ovation in the Metropolitan Stadium the last day of the race.
Finally, Manuel Costa was the second classified rider, followed by Delio Rodriguez,
Emilio Rodriguez and Joaquín Olmos.
Having a look at the Climbers Overall Standings, Emilio Rodriguez repeated
his triumph of the previous year with an advantage of two points over Martín
Mancisidor and four over Costa himself, who narrowly missed winning two victories
and had to make do with the acknowledgment and admiration of the enthusiasts,
since he was never able to achieve a single victory in Vuelta a España.
