|
Stages:
|
17 |
|
Kms:
|
3.531 |
|
Riders:
|
90 |
|
Teams:
|
9 |
|
Kms/hour:
|
33,426 |
|
Retired:
|
50 |
The result of the 11th edition was solved with
one of the slightest differences in the history of Vuelta a Espaņa.
Just thirteen seconds separated the Spanish rider Jesús Loroņo from the final
victory, which was achieved by Angelo Conterno, who used every trick in the
book to get the triumph. One of the most brilliant moments in the race was
the duel protagonized by Loroņo himself and Bahamontes, one of the most intense
ones carried out in the Spanish roads and which was favorable to the former,
helped, no doubt, by the falls, puntures and damages suffered by the latter.
One of the darkest points in the race was the performance of the riders Klober
and Bobet, Swiss and French respectively, two of the most brilliant stars
at that time and who failed to the expectation they had aroused. Their only
entertaiment was to go cycling along the Spanish roads and get as much money
as they could from the organization, whose members even persuaded them to
abandon, something they did when they thought they had got enough from them.
The fight between Loroņo and Bahamontes was important , but even more intense
was the one protagonized by Poblet and the Belgian rider Van Steenbergen,
who shared the sprints, with three stages for the former and six for the second
In spite of the fact that Conterno achieved the Yellow Jersey at the end of
the second stage, this edition of Vuelta a Espaņa was decided in the last
four stages, during the mountainous stages, which Bahamontes welcomed being
just eight seconds below the Italian rider. However, "El Aguila de Toledo"
had countless punctures, damages and falls which separated him from the victory
precisely in his ground. Being Bahamontes ruled out, only Loroņo and Conterno
kept the chances of getting the final triumph, something that only the Italian
rider achieved thanks to not very sporting tricks since he was literally pushed
by his countrymen and by the Swiss riders up the steepest ascents of the mountain
passes they had to cross during the last stage, when Loroņo was riding solo
ahead of the peloton and straight to leadership.
The referees sanctioned Conterno with thirty seconds, an inadequate punishment
in order to snatch the triumph from him, since he still had an advantage of
thirteen seconds over Loroņo, difference which gave him the final victory
in one of the most spectacular and competed races until that moment. The Italian
rider Nico Defilippis was the winner in the Climbers Overall Standings, followed
by Federico Martín Bahamontes and Antonio Suárez.
