Cycling Trivia: La Vuelta a España!

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  • A1. Grand Tour superstar Alberto Contador earned the third of his three victories in 2014.
  • A2. Bend, Oregon resident Chris Horner took the maillot rojo as overall winner in 2013, along with the white combination jersey. Californian Levi Leipheimer is the only other American to have made the podium, earning third in 2001.
  • A3. 1977! And oh, what a win! The rider was defending World Champion Freddy Maertens who won thirteen stages (of the 19 raced) including the first and the last, winning the points jersey as well as the overall title. 
  • A4. Not surprisingly, it is Dutch rider Annemiek Van Vleuten, who has won the last three editions. She won the 2023 race by only nine seconds ahead of her young teammate Demi Vollering, who then went on to defeat Annemiek in the Le Tour. Prior to this year, Van Vleuten shared the record for most titles with German Lisa Brennauer. 
  • A5.  The best finish by a South American in the Vuelta was a victory by Colombian Luis “Lucho” Herrera in the 1987 edition. Since then, Carapaz himself has come closest to victory, placing second by just 24 seconds in the 2020 edition to Slovenian Primoz Roglic.
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