4th Vuelta a Espana 1942

Berrendero Start to Finish!

Times were hard in Europe and WW2 still raged north of the Pyrenees Mountains. Spaniard Julian Berrendero achieved his second Vuelta a Espana victory and proved he was the best Spanish rider of the early ‘40s.

Clearly in great form, Berrendero along with Antonio-Andres Sancho devastate the field, breaking away from the peloton and winning stage one. The pair gained 5'25” on third place Georges Munier (Fra), 19'04” on two contenders Joaquim Olmos (Spa) and Ciprino Elys (Spa), and 30'29” to most of the peloton. Spanish stars Fermin Trueba and Dante Gianello abandoned on the first stage.

Breakaways of lower placed were allowed to escape the peloton, but Berrendero and Sancho maintained their time advantage. The only remaining question was which of the two would gain time on the other.

The penultimate 151 km Stage 10 from Urdiales to Santander provided the answer. Over the Col d'Ason race leader Berrendero matches the attack of Italian Pierre Bramillia. The two rode steadily away from the peloton. Berrendero, climbing very well, left the Italian alone with 134 km to go and gained the stage win. He gained another 12'50” on GC's second placed Sancho and the Vuelta is decided.

Julian Berrendero rolled into Madrid for his second consecutive Vuelta a Espana victory. Berrendero's superiority was so great that he also earned the victory in the Climbing Classification.

The people of Madrid were aware of the overwhelming superiority of Berrendero and welcomed him as their hero when the race finished. A over 100,000 people gathered in Casa de Campo to watch the finish of this grand event.

SPECIAL NOTE: Spanish supersprinter Delio Rodriguez earned 8 stage wins in 1942, putting his total stage wins at 20.

VaE 1941

VaE 1945

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