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By Barry Boyce, CyclingRevealed Historian
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Team KAS Totally Dominates the Vuelta
At the start of the 27th edition of the Vuelta a Espana on April 27, 1972 Spanish team KAS entered in great form. Superior climber José Manuel "El Tarangu" Fuente out distanced his teammate Miguel Mari Lasa by more than 6 minutes and gained the prestigious 1972 Vuelta victory.
As the best climber in the race Fuente gained his victory on the mountainous Stage 12, which was 169 km long between Zaragoza and Formigal. At the start of Zaragoza, he trailed teammate and race leader Domingo Perurena by 2'21". Perurena was not seriously considered as a potential winner of the race. Team Werner’s Jose “Pepe” Grande broke away from the peloton early in the stage. Doing his team duty in support of Perurena, "El Tarangu" bridged the gap and latched on to Grande’s wheel. Throughout the breakaway Fuente did not contribute to the pace. The two-rider breakaway soon gained a 4’45” advantage and the passive riding of the peloton contributed to the breakaway’s success. Team KAS, whose members were supporting Fuente, did not aid in the chase.
Fuente broke away from a fading Grande halfway up the climb of the Puerto de Monrepos. He crested the summit of the climb on his own and plunged off the mountain, taking several risks in the descent to grab valuable time. Fuente completed a sensational performance on the ascent into Formigal.
Fuente's solo stage win on Stage 12
He arrived solo 6’37” ahead of second place and nearly nine minute ahead of the contenders in the peloton. This year’s winner of “La Vuelta” had been decided!
When the Vuelta arrive at the finish in San Sebastian Team KAS’s dominance was evident. José Manuel Fuente took the overall victory, as well as the Grand Prix of the Mountain prize. His KAS team was the winner of the Team Classification and Domingo Perurena took the Points Classification. In addition six KAS riders finished in the top eight of the General Classification.
Stage and Distance |
Stage Winner |
Race Leader |
Prologue Fuengirola, 6 km ITT |
Rene Pijnen (Ned) |
Rene Pijnen (Ned) |
Stage 1 Fuengirola-Cabra, 167 km |
Miguel-Maria Lasa (Spa) |
Rene Pijnen (Ned) |
Stage 2 Cabra-Granada, 206 km |
Gerard Vianen (Ned) |
Miguel Maria Lasa (Spa) |
Stage 3 Granada-Almeria, 181 km |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Miguel Maria Lasa (Spa) |
Stg 4 Almeria-Dehesa de Campoamor, 251 km |
Ger Harings (Ned) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 5 Dehesa Campoamor-Gandia, 183 km |
Pieter Nassen (Ned) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 6a Gandia-El Saler, 120 km |
Roger Kindt (Bel) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 6b El Saler-El Saler, 6.5 km TTT |
KAS |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 7 Valencia-Vinaroz, 181 km |
Jos Van der Vleuten (Ned) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 8 Vinaroz-Tarragona, 189 km |
Cees Koeken (Ned) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 9a Tarragona-Barcelona, 118 km |
Gert Harings (Ned) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 9b Barcelona/Montjuich, 10 km ITT |
Jesus Manzaneque (Spa) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 10 Barcelona-Banolas, 192 km |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 11 Manresa-Zaragoza, 259 km |
Luis Balague (Spa) |
Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
Stage 12 Zaragoza-Formigal, 169 km |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 13 Sanguesa-Arrate, 201 km |
Agustin Tamames (Spa) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 14 Eibar-Bilbao, 145 km |
Miguel-Maria Lasa (Spa) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 15 Bilbao-Torrelavega, 148 km |
Gerard Vianen (Ned) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 16 Torrelavega-Vitoria, 219 km |
Agustin Tamames (Spa) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 17a Vitoria-San Sebastian, 138 km |
Jesus Aranzabal (Spa) |
Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
Stage 17b San Sebastian, 20 km ITT |
J-A Gonzalez-Linares (Spa) |
 Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa)
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BEST CLIMBER PRIZE |
 Jose-Manuel Fuente (Spa) |
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POINTS COMPETITION |
 Domingo Perurena (Spa) |
| VaE April 27 - May 14, 1972 |
| 3,109.5 km |
1.
Jose-Manuel FUENTE (Spa) 82h34'14" |
2.
Miguel-Maria Lasa (Spa) +6'34" |
3.
Agustin Tamames (Spa) +7'00" |
Starters: 100 |
Finishers: 57 |
Average Speed: 37.764 km/h |
VaE 1971
VaE 1973
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27th Vuelta a Espana 1972
