|
Stages:
|
18 |
|
Kms:
|
2.951,3 |
|
Riders:
|
90 |
|
Teams:
|
9 |
|
Kms/hour:
|
37,605 |
|
Retired:
|
35 |
Vuelta a España 1966 was about to be suspended;
the cause, the serious financial problems that the organizer, el Correo Español
- El Pueblo Vasco was going through.
Finally, thanks to José Elola Olaso, the top leader of Spanish sport at that
time, Vuelta a España could be started on time. It was in Murcia the 28th
of April, but with no remarkable foreign figures because they decided not
to take part due to the uncertainty which surrounded the continuity of the
great Spanish race. In this way, the Spanish riders, who came and went almost
unnoticed in the previous edition and had been four years without a single
victory, started as favorites. The forecast was completely fulfilled: the
seven first riders in the Overall Standings were Spanish.
The race was decided in the second sector of the 15th stage, a 61-kilometre-long
time trial between Vitoria and Haro, crossing Alto de Herrera. Francisco Gabica,
winner of the stage, snatched the leadership, and did not give it up any more,
out of the Dutch rider Haast.
In spite of the slight difference between the first and the fifth rider, hardly
2´30´´, this Vuelta was not one of those to be remembered; it was virtually
an only performance of the KAS Team. The team from Vitoria, which controlled
the international peloton for many years from that tmoment on, enjoyed its
highest moment during this Vuelta 1966: they achieved the three first positions
in the Overall Standings, the leadership in the Climbers Overall Standings
and in the Teams Standings and its riders, lead by Dalmacio Langarica, won
six stages and wore the Yellow Maillot in fourteen of the eighteen stages
of the race. It was the first great display of power on the part of one of
the most emblematic teams in the history of world cycling.
