38th Vuelta a Espana 1983

Vuelta a Espana: Brilliant!!!

“Brilliant” was the description assigned by the media to the 1983 edition of the Vuelta a Espana. The scandals from previous years were forgotten as spectacular racing turned the focus to making the Vuelta a top Grand Tour! Within the European racing community the Vuelta had entered a level equal to the Giro d’Italia.

First substantial action of the race came on the Stage 8 the 38 km Mountain Time Trial from Sabiñánigo to Balneario de Panticosa. Race leader Marino Lejarreta won the stage and consolidated his control of General Classification. 1978 Vuelta champion Bernard Hinault had shown brilliant fitness through 7 stages but struggled on the ITT. The Frenchman finished +2’13” behind stage winner Lejarreta.

The next crucial stage came two stages later on Stage 10 from Zaragoza to Soria. In a brutal wind race leader Lejarreta crashed heavily and a breakaway group of foreign stars including Hennie Kupier, Giuseppe Saronni and Bernard Hinault formed. Lejarreta lost valuable time and lost the Maillot Amarillo to young Spanish climber Julian Gorospe.

Lejarreta winning on the Covadonga

Marino Lejarreta began to take time back on the Stage 13 finish on the tough climb of the Lagos of Covadonga. Lejarreta attacked through the rain and snow with 12 km to go. Slowly he pulled away and dropped a struggling Hinault. A solo Lejarreta won the stage and the Frenchman finish second, but lost 1’11”. Lejarreta climb back into third place in the General Classification.

Stage 14 from Cangas de Onis to Leon featured the climb of the Passo Pajares. Two danger men Eduardo Chozas and Alvaro Pino attacked and gained a time gap of 15 minutes over the summit of the Pajares. Carlos Hernandez joined the breakaway and took the stage win. Pino’s time gain took the race leader’s Maillot Amarillo. The GC battle was in full flight with 5 riders, Pino, Fernandez, Gorospe, Lejarreta, and Hinault, less than 2 minutes apart.

The second section of Stage 15 was a 22 km Individual Time Trial in Valladolid. Hinault, a master of the “race against the clock”, won the stage but fell 10” short in the GC of new race leader Julian Gorospe.

Hinault on the attack

The race was now three stages from the end in Madrid. A determined Bernard Hinault attacked relentlessly on Stage 17 to Avila and rode away from race leader Gorospe on the climb to Puerto de Serranillos. The Frenchman took the stage win and took the Maillot Amarillo.

Hinault in control of the race

Two stages later Bernard Hinault rolled into Madrid to claim the 1983 Vuelta a Espana victory.  Bernard Hinault was pushed to his physical limits to gain the “Brilliant” victory.

SPECIAL NOTE: Hinault stressed his body so much he could not rider the Tour de France and had to have a tendonitis operation to recover from the injuries.

Stage and Distance	Stage Winner	Race Leader
Prologue Almusafes, 6.8 km ITT	Dominique Gaigne (Fra)	Dominique Gaigne (Fra)
Stage 1 Almusafes-Cuenca, 235 km	Juan Fernandez (Spa)	Dominique Gaigne (Fra)
Stage 2 Cuenca-Teruel, 152 km	Eric Vanderaerden (Bel)	Dominique Gaigne (Fra)
Stage 3 Teruel-S.Carles de la Rapita, 241 km	Giuseppe Petito (Ita)	Dominique Gaigne (Fra)
Stg 4 S.C de la Rapita-Q.Quirze del Valles, 192 km	Laurent Fignon (Fra)	Dominique Gaigne (Fra)
Stg 5 Q.Qu del Valles-Castellar de N'Hug, 195 km	Alberto Fernandez (Spa)	Bernard Hinault (Fra)
Stage 6 La Pobla de Lillet-Viella, 235 km	Marino Lejarreta (Spa)	Marino Lejarreta (Spa)
Stage 7 Les-Sabinanigo, 137 km	Jesus Suarez-Cueva (Spa)	Marino Lejarreta (Spa)
Stage 8 Sabi-Balneario de Panticosa, 38 km ITT	Marino Lejarreta (Spa)	Marino Lejarreta (Spa)
Stage 9 Panticosa-Cas.Montes Blancos, 183 km	Giuseppe Saronni (Ita)	Marino Lejarreta (Spa)
Stage 10 Zaragoza-Soria, 174 km	Giuseppe Saronni (Ita)	Julian Gorospe (Spa)
Stage 11 Soria-Logrono, 185 km	Eric Vanderaerden (Bel)	Alberto Fernandez (Spa)
Stage 12 Logrono-Burgos, 147 km	Noel Dejonckheere (Bel)	Alberto Fernandez (Spa)
Stage 13 Aguilar de Campo-Lagos de Enol, 188 km	Marino Lejarreta (Spa)	Alberto Fernandez (Spa)
Stage 14 Cangas de Onis-Leon, 195 km	Carlos Hernandez (Spa)	Alvaro Pino (Spa)
Stage 15a Leon-Valladolid, 134 km	Pascal Poisson (Fra)	Alvaro Pino (Spa)
Stage 15b Valladolid, 22 km ITT	Bernard Hinault (Fra)	Julian Gorospe (Spa)
Stage 16 Valladolid-Salamanca, 162 km	Jose-Luis Laguia (Spa)	Julian Gorospe (Spa)
Stage 17 Salamanca-Avila, 216 km	Bernard Hinault (Fra)	Bernard Hinault (Fra)
Stage 18 Avila-DYC, 204 km	Jesus Hernandez-Ubeda (Spa)	Bernard Hinault (Fra)
Stage 19 Segovia-Madrid, 135 km	Michael Wilson (Aus)	Bernard Hinault (Fra)
	BEST CLIMBER PRIZE	José-Luis Laguia (Spa)
	POINTS COMPETITION	Marino Lejarreta (Spa)

VaE 1982

VaE 1984

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