46th Vuelta a Espana 1991

A Covadonga Showdown

The 46th edition of the Vuelta a Espana was held from April 29 to May 19, 1991. The race course had a distance of 3,215 km over 20 stages from Merida to Madrid.

The first week of racing was dominated by the powerful team ONCE with time trial specialist Melchor Mauri winning the prologue time trial. Mauri and teammates Herminio Diaz Zabala and Anselmo Fuerte all trading the race lead through 3 stages before Mauri took control for good.

Miguel Indurain Mauri’s main threat lost almost 2 minutes on the Team Time Trial and looked to the mountain and the two upcoming ITT to take back time in the GC.

SPECIAL NOTE: Dangerous conditions because of the cold, rain, and snow caused the Stage 11, ending in Pla de Beret, to be cancelled.

On the mountainous Stage 12, 111 km from Bossost to Cerler, Mauri attacked early in an effort to get to the tough climb to Cerler ahead of the climbers. The Columbians drove the chase and caught Mauri before the climb. Banesto's Indurain set a strong tempo and was able to drop a struggling Mauri on the finishing climb. The race leader did not give up and proudly defended his General Classification lead. Indurain managed to take back 45”.

On Stage 16 the traditional ascension of the Lagos of Covadonga returned to the Vuelta in 1991 and provided the launching pad for GC hopefuls. Lucho Herrera, Laudelino Cubino, Piotr Ugrumov, Oliviero Rincon all attacked and broke away. Mauri’s main rivals Marino Lejarreta and Miguel Indurain also managed to escape the peloton, while Mauri was losing contact with the group. The race leader demonstrated that he was able to generate a remarkable effort to close the gap and reach the top of the finishing climb just a few seconds behind his main rivals. The time lost to the climbers was not enough to lose his Maillot Amarillo.

Three staages later Melchor Mauri did not disappoint on the Stage 19 Individual Time Trial in Valladolid. He rode brilliantly and gained 1’06” on main rival Miguel Indurain, who was second on the stage.

ONCE’s Melchor Mauri rode into Madrid to claim the prestigious Vuelta a Espana victory in 1991. This victory surprised Mauri who stated after the race: "Now, I realize my real possibilities".

Stage and Distance	Stage Winner	Race Leader
Stage 1 Merida-Merida, 8.8 km ITT	Melchor Mauri (Spa)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 2a Merida-Caceres, 134.5 km	Michel Zanoli (Ned)	Anselmo Fuerte (Spa)
Stage 2b Montijo-Badajoz, 40.4 km TTT	ONCE	Anselmo Fuerte (Spa)
Stage 3 Badajoz-Sevilla, 233.2 km	Jesper Skibby (Den)	Hermino Diaz-Zabala (Spa)
Stage 4 Sevilla/Expo 92-Jaen, 292 km	Jesus Cruz-Martin (Spa)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 5 Linares-Albacete, 227.8 km	Uwe Raab (Ger)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 6 Albacete-Valencia, 236.5 km	Jean-Paul Van Poppel (Ned)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 7 Palma-Palma, 188 km	Jesper Skibby (Den)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 8 Cala d'Or-Cala d'Or, 47 km ITT	Melchor Mauri (Spa)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 9 San Cugat-Lloret de Mar, 140 km	Jean-Paul Van Poppel (Ned)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 10 Lloret de Mar-Andorra, 229 km	Guido Bontempi (Ita)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 11 Andorra-Pia de Beret, Canceled	*** Stage Canceled ***	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 12 Bossost-Cerler, 111 km	Ivan Ivanov (Rus)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 13 Benasque-Zaragoza, 219 km	Jean-Paul Van Poppel (Ned)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 14 Ezcaray-Valdezcaray, 24.1 km	Fabio Parra (Col)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 15 Sta Domingo Calzada-Santander, 219 km	Guido Bontempi (Ita)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 16 Santander-Lagos de Covadanga, 186 km	Luis Herrera (Col)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 17 Cangas de Onis-Alto Naranco, 152 km	Laudelino Cubino (Spa)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 18 Leon-Valladolid, 137.5 km	Antonio-Miguel Diaz (Spa)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 19 Valladolid-Valladolid, 53.2 km ITT	Melchor Mauri (Spa)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 20 Destillerias DYC-DYC, 212 km	Jesus Montoya (Spa)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
Stage 21 Collado Villalba, 169.6 km	Jean-Paul Van Poppel (Ned)	Melchor Mauri (Spa)
	BEST CLIMBER PRIZE	Luis Herrera (Col)
	POINTS COMPETITION	Uwe Raab (Ger)

VaE 1990

VaE 1992

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