2006 Vuelta a España

2006 Vuelta a España

Overview of the stages
Race details
Dates		26 August - 17 September
Stages		21
Distance		3,192 km (1,983 mi)
Winning time		81h 23' 07" (39.22 km/h/24.37 mph)
Palmarès
	Winner	Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)	(Astana)
	Second	Alejandro Valverde (ESP)	(Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears)
	Third	Andrey Kashechkin (KAZ)	(Astana)
	Points	Thor Hushovd (NOR)	(Crédit Agricole)
	Mountains	Egoi Martínez (ESP)	(Discovery Channel)
	Combination	Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)	(Astana)
	Team	Discovery Channel
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The 61st Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from August 26 to September 17, 2006. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3,192 km, and was won by Alexander Vinokourov of the Astana cycling team.

Teams and riders

In addition to the 20 UCI ProTour teams, Relax-GAM have received a wild card.

List of stages

• Mountain stages with asterisk end on the top of the climb.

Stage recaps

• Vuelta a España 2006, Stage 1 to Stage 11
• Vuelta a España 2006, Stage 12 to Stage 21

Jersey progress

Jersey wearers when same rider is holding multiple jerseys:

• Lars Ytting Bak wore the points jersey in stage 2
• Paolo Bettini wore the points jersey in stages 4–5
• Janez Brajkovič wore the white combination jersey in stages 6–7
• José Miguel Elías wore the orange mountains jersey in stages 6–7
• Danilo Di Luca wore the orange mountains jersey in stages 8–9
• Alejandro Valverde wore the white combination jersey in stages 8–9
• Carlos Sastre wore the white combination jersey in stages 8–16
• Alexander Vinokourov wore the white combination jersey in stage 17
• Andrey Kashechkin wore the white combination jersey in stage 19-21
• When he has been 2nd in combination classification behind GC leader, Alejandro Valverde has worn white jersey of UCI ProTour leader. This happened on stages 8, 9, 19, 20 and 21.

Current standings

General classification (final)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Alexander Vinokourov	Astana	81h 23' 07"
2	Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	1' 12"
3	Andrey Kashechkin	Astana	3' 12"
4	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	3' 35"
5	José Ángel Gómez Marchante	Saunier Duval-Prodir	6' 51"
6	Tom Danielson	Discovery Channel	8' 09"
7	Samuel Sánchez	Euskaltel-Euskadi	8' 26"
8	Manuel Beltrán	Discovery Channel	10' 36"
9	Vladimir Karpets	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	10' 47"
10	Luis Pérez Rodríguez	Cofidis	11' 32"

Points classification

In 2006, the leader of the points classification is awarded a blue with yellow-fish-covered jersey, which is sponsored by Spain's fishing and marine industry known as FROM (or El Fondo de Regulación y Organización del Mercado de Productos de la Pesca y Cultivos Marinos).[1]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Thor Hushovd	Crédit Agricole	199
2	Alexander Vinokourov	Astana	163
3	Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	147
4	Samuel Sánchez	Euskaltel-Euskadi	107
5	Erik Zabel	Team Milram	104
6	Stuart O'Grady	Team CSC	104
7	Francisco Ventoso	Saunier Duval-Prodir	99
8	Andrey Kashechkin	Astana	95
9	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	93
10	José Ángel Gómez Marchante	Saunier Duval-Prodir	68

Mountains classification

In 2006, the leader of the climbers classification (or King of the Mountains) wears the orange jersey sponsored by Ford. In recent years, the KoM wore a red jersey.

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Egoi Martínez	Discovery Channel	129
2	Pietro Caucchioli	Crédit Agricole	117
3	Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	98
4	Andrey Kashechkin	Astana	84
5	Alexander Vinokourov	Astana	82
6	José Miguel Elías	Relax-Gam	70
7	Igor Antón	Euskaltel-Euskadi	67
8	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	63
9	José Ángel Gómez Marchante	Saunier Duval-Prodir	60
10	David Arroyo	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	58

Combination classification

In 2006, the leader of the combinations classification wears the white jersey. In 2005, the rider with the lowest cumulative rank of all classifications wore a gold-green jersey.

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Alexander Vinokourov	Astana	8
2	Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	8
3	Andrey Kashechkin	Astana	15
4	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	21
5	José Ángel Gómez Marchante	Saunier Duval-Prodir	24
6	Samuel Sánchez	Euskaltel-Euskadi	25
7	Tom Danielson	Discovery Channel	28
8	Egoi Martínez	Discovery Channel	31
9	Igor Antón	Euskaltel-Euskadi	39
10	Manuel Beltrán	Discovery Channel	43

Teams classification

Rank	Team	Time
1	Discovery Channel	201h 59' 16"
2	Astana	15' 25"
3	Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears	25' 33"
4	Euskaltel-Euskadi	32' 13"
5	Team CSC	52' 56"
6	Saunier Duval-Prodir	1h 40' 02"
7	Lampre-Fondital	1h 43' 20"
8	AG2R Prévoyance	2h 02' 55"
9	Relax-GAM	2h 16' 26"
10	Cofidis	2h 20' 33"

External links

• La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French)
• cyclingnews.com