By Chris Chaplow
The three main professional cycle races in the Andalucia cycling calendar are the Tour of Spain, known as La Vuelta; the Tour of Andalucia, also known as the Vuelta a Andalucia or Ruta Ciclista del Sol; and the one-day Clasíca de Almería.
La Vuelta (Tour of Spain)
La Vuelta road cycle race takes place over three weeks in August and September each year (20 August to 11 September 2011) and usually includes a few stages in Andalucia. In 2011 a mountain stage takes place in the Sierra Nevada for the first time (Wednesday 24 August), as well as one from Ubeda to Cordoba (Thursday 25 August).
It is one of the three Grand Tours in Europe, along with the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France, and is also on the UCI world tour. About 200 cyclists take part from about 20 teams.
The ongoing winner wears a red jersey to signify his lead, similar to the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. The colour of the leader's jersey has changed many times over the history of the race (it started over 70 years ago), but since 2010 it has been red. Other classifications have taken on the same colours as the Tour de France: a white jersey with blue marks on honours the 'King of the Mountains' or best climber; the green jersey is for the current top sprinter (based on points); a white jersey is worn by the combined points leader; and the leading team sports grey jerseys.
The race was first held in 1935 and has been held annually since 1955. Originally held in the spring, in 1955 the race moved to August/September to avoid direct competition with the Giro d'Italia. The Vuelta is seen as an important preparation course for the World Championships in October.
The race is broken down into about 20 day stages, with the time summated, and the winner is the cyclist with the shortest time. The Andalucia-Caja Granada team was the only Andalucian team in the 2011 race.
In 2011 there were three stages in Andalucia, on 24-26 August: Baza to Sierra Nevada (24 August), Sierra Nevada to Valdepeñas de Jaén (25 August), and Úbeda to Córdoba (26 August).
For more on the Andalucian stages of the 2011 race, see our report.
VUELTA A ANDALUCIA (TOUR OF ANDALUCIA)
The Vuelta a Andalucía or Ruta del Sol is a regional Spanish road cycle race held annually since 1955. It is normally held in February. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI European Tour. The race takes place over five stage days. More>
Clasica de Almeria
The Clásica de Almería is a single-day race held annually in February or March, starting and finishing in Almeria City. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a Cat 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was established in 1986 as an amateur event and in 1992 it became fully professional.
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