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1991 Vuelta a España

Field	Value
name	1991 Vuelta a España
date	29 April – 19 May
stages	21, including one split stage
distance	3215.5
unit	km
time	82h 48' 07"
first	Melcior Mauri
first_nat	ESP
first_team	ONCE
first_color	yellow
second	Miguel Induráin
second_nat	ESP
second_team	Banesto
third	Marino Lejarreta
third_nat	ESP
third_team	ONCE
points	Uwe Raab
points_nat	GER
points_team	PDM
points_color	blue
mountains	Luis Herrera
mountains_nat	COL
mountains_team	Ryalcao Postobón
mountains_color	green
youth	Oliverio Rincón
youth_nat	COL
youth_team	Kelme–CAM
youth_color	light blue
combination	Federico Echave
combination_nat	ESP
combination_team	CLAS–Cajastur
combination_color	combinada2
sprints	Miguel Ángel Iglesias
sprints_nat	ESP
sprints_team	Puertas Mavisa
sprints_color	red
team	ONCE
previous	[1990](1990-vuelta-a-espana)
next	[1992](1992-vuelta-a-espana)

The 46th Edition Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 29 April to 19 May 1991. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3215.5 km, and was won by Melcior Mauri of the ONCE cycling team.

Race preview and favorites

Miguel Induráin, Laudelino Cubino and Anselmo Fuerte were the Spanish favourites for the race. Defending champion Marco Giovannetti was also a favourite together with Steven Rooks, Raúl Alcalá and the Colombians Fabio Parra and Luis ‘Lucho’ Herrera.

In the end Melcior Mauri was the revelation of the race and beat the future winner of the Tour de France Miguel Induráin in all the time trials. Indurain was forced to ride an aggressive race in the mountain stages but Mauri was able to defend his lead.

Route and stages

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type	Winner	[1](1991-vuelta-a-espana-stage-1-to-stage-10-stage-1)	[2a](1991-vuelta-a-espana-stage-1-to-stage-10-stage-2a)	[2b](1991-vuelta-a-espana-stage-1-to-stage-10-stage-2b)
29 April	MéridaThe opening stage was competed as a three-man time trial.	8.8 km	[[File:Team Time Trial Stage.svg	22px]]	Team time trial	Melcior Mauri
30 April	Mérida to Cáceres	134.5 km			Michel Zanoli
Montijo to Badajoz	40.4 km	[[File:Team Time Trial Stage.svg	22px]]	Team time trial	{{UCI team code	ONC	1991}}
1 May	Badajoz to Seville	233.2 km			Jesper Skibby
2 May	Seville to Jaén	292 km			Jesus Cruz Martin
3 May	Linares to Albacete	227.8 km			Uwe Raab
4 May	Albacete to Valencia	236.5 km			Jean-Paul van Poppel
5 May	Palma de Mallorca	188 km			Jesper Skibby
6 May	Cala d'Or	47 km	[[File:Time Trial.svg	22px]]	Individual time trial	Melcior Mauri
7 May	Sant Cugat del Vallès to Lloret de Mar	140 km			Jean-Paul van Poppel
8 May	Lloret de Mar to Andorra la Vella, Andorra	229 km			Guido Bontempi
9 May	Andorra la Vella, Andorra to Pla-de-Beret	134.5 km	[[File:Mountainstage.svg	20px	alt=	link=]]	Mountain stage	Stage cancelled
10 May	Bossòst to Cerler	111 km			Ivan Ivanov
11 May	Benasque to Zaragoza	219 km			Jean-Paul van Poppel
12 May	Ezcaray to Valdezcaray	24.1 km	[[File:Time Trial.svg	22px]]	Individual time trial	Fabio Parra
13 May	Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Santander	219.5 km			Guido Bontempi
14 May	Santander to Lagos de Covadonga	186.6 km			Luis Herrera
15 May	Cangas de Onís to Alto del Naranco	152 km			Laudelino Cubino
16 May	León to Valladolid	137.5 km			Antonio Miguel Díaz
17 May	Valladolid	53.2 km	[[File:Time Trial.svg	22px]]	Individual time trial	Melcior Mauri
18 May	Palazuelos de Eresma	212.7 km			Jesús Montoya
19 May	Collado Villalba to Madrid	169.6 km			Jean-Paul van Poppel

Race overview

The opening stage consisted, on this occasion, of a three-man team time trial. The winning trio consisted of ONCE's Melcior Mauri, Anselmo Fuerte and Herminio Díaz-Zabala. Coupled with ONCE's win in the following day's Team Time Trial, meant the leader's jersey alternated between these three riders for the first week of the race. The team time trial would turn out to have a large impact as Induráin lost almost two minutes to Mauri on this stage.

Stage 8, a 47 km individual time trial, was the first decisive stage of the Vuelta. Riders such as Laudelino Cubino and Anselmo Fuerte lost most of their chances that day. Mauri increased his lead by winning the stage, a little less than a minute ahead of Induráin.

The Pyrenean stages were awaited with anticipation, to see if ONCE's Catalunyan rider would be capable of withstanding the high mountains. However, the queen stage ending at Pla de Beret had to be suspended due to adverse weather. Russian rider Ivan Ivanov won the 12th stage to the mountaintop ski resort at Cerler, but Mauri held on, losing less than a minute to Induráin.

Stage 14 was a mountain time trial finishing at the ski station in Valdezcaray, where Parra and Herrera set the leading times. Mauri once again put in a good performance, gaining more time on Induráin and leading the general classification ahead of his teammate Lejarreta, Echave and Induráin.

The third and final week of the race featured two high mountain stages in the Cordillera Cantábrica mountain range: the historic ascensions to the Alto del Naranco and the Covadonga Lakes. Herrera and Cubino took the stages, but Mauri managed to hang on. Mauri lost some time, but not enough to lose his overall lead. At this point he was the leader and there was still one time trial to go.

Mauri didn't disappoint, winning the Valladolid time trial ahead of Induráin by over a minute to seal his Vuelta win. He would never again perform at such a high standard. Induráin finished second overall, and Lejarreta third.

Results

Final General Classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	ESP Melcior Mauri	ONCE	82h 48' 07s
2	ESP Miguel Induráin	Banesto	a 2' 52s
3	ESP Marino Lejarreta	ONCE	a 3' 11s
4	ESP Federico Echave	CLAS–Cajastur	a 3' 54s
5	COL Fabio Parra	Amaya Seguros	a 5' 38s
6	ESP Pello Ruiz Cabestany	CLAS–Cajastur	a 6' 50s
7	MEX Raúl Alcalá	PDM–Concorde	a 6' 57s
8	LAT Piotr Ugrumov	Seur	a 10' 43s
9	NED Steven Rooks	Buckler	a 12' 09s
10	COL Oliverio Rincón	Kelme	a 12' 11s
11	ESP Eduardo Chozas	ONCE
12	NED Tom Cordes	PDM–Ultima–Concorde
13	COL Luis Herrera	Ryalco–Postobón
14	ESP Ignacio Gaston Crespo	CLAS–Cajastur
15	ESP Laudelino Cubino Gonzalez	Amaya
16	ESP Jon Unzaga Bombín	Seur
17	GER Udo Bölts	Telekom-Mercedes-Merckx
18	ITA Marco Giovannetti	Gatorade-Chateau d'Ax
19	URS Ivan Ivanov	Seur
20	ESP Fernando Martinez De Guerenu	Puertas Mavisa
21	ESP Francisco Javier Mauleón	CLAS–Cajastur
22	COL Alvaro Meija Castrillon	Ryalco–Postobón
23	ESP Jesus Montoya Alarcon	Amaya
24	FRA Fabrice Philipot	Banesto
25	COL Gerardo Moncada	Ryalco–Postobón

Notes

References

"46ème Vuelta a España 1991". Memoire du cyclisme.
(20 May 1991). "Vuelta Ciclista a España, Clasificaciones". [[El Mundo Deportivo]].
(20 May 1991). "Vuelta Ciclista a España, Clasificaciones". [[El Mundo Deportivo]].
"1991 » 46th Vuelta a Espana". procyclingstats.com.
"46ème Vuelta a España 1991". Memoire du cyclisme.
(9 May 1991). "La etapa de hoy". El Mundo Deportivo.

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